Joshua Moniz never expected to get a hero's welcome on the beach.
But when he finished the final heat in the Van's Junior Pro, he was met by brother Seth and Kelani David, who carried the 17-year-old over the sand after he won at the 51st annual Coastal Edge East Coast Surfing Championships.
He was one of the champions crowned Sunday at the second-oldest surfing contest in the world - in four professional and 33 amateur divisions.
Moniz edged his brother and fellow Hawaiian David, along with Japan's Hiroto Ohhara, to capture his first title on an East Coast swell.
That he won wasn't a surprise. In June he won the International Surfing Association's Junior World title in Nicaragua. He is a son of
Tony Moniz, one of the top surfers in the world in the 1980s.
"Dad knows a lot of people and that helps," said Moniz, who won $4,500 and earned 1,000 points in the Association of Surfing Professionals yearly standings. "He's had all of us surfing since we were, like, 5 or something. He was one of the top guys back in the day, so it's super cool to have him helping me and my brother.
"This has to be one of my biggest wins other than the ISA."
Moniz wasn't alone in having a big day.
Patrick Gudauskas from San Clemente, Calif., captured the Van's Pro title in his first trip to the ECSC, pocketing $15,000 and also earning 1,000 ASP points.
Gudauskas, 27, got his winning scores on his first two waves, sitting back for the remainder of the heat as the northeast wind swell started to die. The tactic almost failed him, as he barely edged Brazil's Deivid Silva, 12.67 to 12.63.
Silva banged out one of the best rides of the heat with less than a minute remaining, forcing the judges to go to the replay to score it. Silva needed 6.68 to win, a 6.67 to tie, but got a 6.63.
"I figured if I could get my two scores early that it could be all I needed," Gudauskas said. "The tide seemed to peak in the semifinals and as it was pulling out it was pulling down the waves.
"I was kind of laughing while I was out there because it looked like it would pay off. Then Silva gets that wave at the end and..."
Justin Quintal, 23, of Newport Beach, Fla., came into the pro longboard division as a favorite - he won the U.S. Open three weeks ago. But he faced stiff competition in former world champion Joel Tudor and North Carolinian Tony Silvangni.
Two of the five judges favored Silvangni, and the other three went for Quintal - giving the Floridian the title and the $2,000 prize.
The longboard competition was not sanctioned by the ASP.
"You never know what to expect on East Coast surf," said Quintal, who won the ECSC longboard division two years ago. "It just changes so much... even during a heat.
"This was an awesome final. Anytime you are in the water with a great like Joel Tudor, it's an honor."
South Carolina teenager Emory McClary won the women's title and $2,000, edging Chelsea Roett, who won the women's amateur division. The pro women's division was not an ASP event.
Made in the U.S.A.