Nathan Yeomans was the man of fate today, however much Dillon Perillo tried to alter it.

Yeomans, of San Clemente, became the first pro surfer in decades to win the same WQS event three years in a row after beating Perillo 15.37-13.67 in the Oakley Newport Beach Pro in peaky, shoulder-high conditions.
Travis Mellem and Micah Byrne finished third and fourth respectively.

Yeomans, who got married last week, might have had a mental boost and said he was confident he could win again at 56th Street, but also showed he was willing to earn it. He got through a tough semifinal then set the pace for the final when he smashed the lip twice on a righthander for an 8.5.

Perillo, of Malibu, crushed Tanner Gudauskas in the junior final 18.16-14.16 by catching most of the waves in the heat and tried the same strategy in the men’s final. Perillo however, was running out of gas and had a hard time generating big moves against Yeomans.

A pair of hard slashes and a small air gave Yeomans a 6.87 on another righthander a few minutes later that kept him on top for good.

Perillo, Mellim and Byrne challenged with good rides late in the heat, but were already too far behind.

“There’s so many variables in it” Yeomans chuckled after, admitting how difficult it was for him to get the three consecutive wins. “It’s been a long year with lots of ups and downs. The semi I had could have been a final, so after that, I felt like it was my contest.” 

Perillo surfed three heats today and caught 24 waves in his two finals said surfing here all week made it “feel like my home break,” but admitted “I had no plan before the (junior) heat. I just made sure I was always catching waves and building scores. It seemed to work.”

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