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The competitor lineup for the 2017 Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour is already shaping up to be an incredible battle for dominance out on the water, with some of the world’s foremost professionals stacking the rankings moving into the 2017 contest series. With Supra Boats as a major sponsor, the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour Series is slated to be a world-class event schedule offering all kinds of attractions and boat showcases alongside elite wakeboard competition.
Although there are going to be a lot of chances for the rankings profile to be rearranged throughout the 2017 season, Mike Dowdy is going to be a tough target for the rest of the contending athletes to knock out of the number one spot. Mike has been competing quite well in recent years, and his record along with first place ranking certainly speak for themselves in terms of his dominant skillset out on the wake.
One of the biggest rivalries and challenges in the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour is likely to end up being between the competitors Tony Iacconi and Cory Teunissen, who currently hold second and third place, respectively. These two professional wakeboarders are going to be challenging each other for the top rankings, and we can expect some really intense performances from each of them as they hang onto their league status.
Among the major underdogs right now in terms of real challengers for league dominance is definitely Rusty Malinoski, who in spite of holding sixth place heading into 2017 has been performing at a level where he can mount a genuine challenge to the current league leaders. Regardless of how the 2017 Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour plays out this year, it is sure to be an exciting run with Utah, Colorado, Alabama, and Ohio set to be the major locations for each competition in the series. For the benefit of those professional wakeboarding fans that want to learn about the current league rankings heading into the 2017 season, those rankings will now be provided in detail here.
1st Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Mike Dowdy:
Riding out of his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. native professional wakeboarder Mike Dowdy is currently sitting in the coveted first place ranking heading into the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour competition series. At five foot four inches tall, weighing in at 165 pounds, Mike Dowdy is an excellent example of big things coming in small packages. With his lower center of gravity and powerful, explosive movement on the wake, Mike Dowdy is someone who is going to consistently dominate this league as long as he continues on at his current pace.
Dowdy’s boat board right now is the CWB Dowdy 136, which is a board that gives him the pop and technical maneuverability he uses to win so many major competitions. Having turned professional four years ago, Mike Dowdy is already doing extremely well in the Pro Wakeboard Tour, and at twenty-two years old he likely has several more years of elite competition left in his career. Mike is a regular stance wakeboarder, and his high level competing has accrued him multiple sponsorships over the last few years. His profile of major sponsorships includes Red Bull Energy Drinks, Billabong, Buywake, CTI, Zeal, and CWB, with some smaller ones attached as well. Given how well he’s been riding, we can expect Mike Dowdy to continue holding onto first place moving through the 2017 season.
2nd Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Tony Iacconi:
Holding second place heading into the 2017 Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour competitive series, Tony Iacconi has been absolutely killing it to move into second. This season is going to be a defining one for Tony, especially since he has such extreme competition in terms of being able to hold onto his second place ranking. With challengers like Cory Teunissen, Rusty Malinoski, and others, Tony Iacconi has a full plate right now moving into the 2017 season. The pressure is on in 2017, but that pressure has never deterred Tony Iacconi from performing at his peak.
With the kind of high flying, long hangtime style he has done so well with thus far, we can expect Tony to fight with everything he’s got in 2017. At five foot ten inches, and almost 190 pounds, Tony is one of the larger wakeboarding professionals contending for leadership in the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour series. Riding out of his hometown of Newcastle in Australia, Tony is another wakeboarder who rides a CWB board and has CWB as a main sponsorship. His boat board right now is the CWB Ti 141 model, and some of his additional sponsorships in addition to CWB include Rockstar Energy Drinks, MasterCraft, Jet Pilot, Lusty Industries, and several others.
3rd Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Cory Teunissen:
Currently retaining the third place ranking within the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour lead-up, professional wakeboarder Cory Teunissen has been showing everyone how it’s done over the last couple seasons. Although he is two back from the leader, Cory is definitely one of the most dangerous challengers that first place Mike Dowdy is set to go up against in the 2017 season. Yet another Australian native wakeboarder holding a high ranking in the Pro Wakeboard Tour, Cory Teunissen is one of the goofy stance wakeboarders currently succeeding at the professional level. Having turned professional in early 2015, Cory is having a meteoric rise to prominence in the Pro Wakeboard Tour series.
If his current momentum is sustained, or even ramped up, we could end up seeing Cory Teunissen taking over this league either in 2017 or over the next handful of seasons. Riding out of Brisbane, Australia, Cory Teunissen is currently riding for O’Brien and riding an O’Brien wakeboard as his primary hardware. Cory’s boat board is the O’Brien CTP, which has certainly proven to be a good match for his style. Leading up to the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour series, Cory’s sponsorship profile is breaking down into Red Bull Energy Drinks, Supra Boats, Rosewell Marine, O’Brien, and some lesser known companies as well.
4th Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Nic Rapa:
A major fan favorite within the Pro Wakeboard Tour lineup is definitely the one and only Nic Rapa, a professional wakeboarder who happens to be sitting in the fourth place league ranking heading into 2017. Yet one more Aussie wakeboarder holding onto a strong ranking in the Pro Wakeboard Tour, Nic Rapa is doing insanely well for being a relative newcomer in this league. Having turned pro only one year ago in 2016, it is pretty amazing that Nic has been able to move all the way up into the fourth place positioning.
Riding out of his hometown of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia, Nic Rapa is only nineteen years old and can therefore be predicted to have much more longevity in his professional career barring any kind of significant injuries. Nic Rapa is also one of the major goofy stance wakeboarders who is currently holding a top spot moving into the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour, with goofy riders definitely being a minority in this league compared to regular stance wakeboarders. Nic’s major sponsorships include Ronix, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Supra Boats, GoPro, and more. At this time, Nic’s primary boat board for competitions is the Ronix ONE Timebomb wakeboard.
5th Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Dean Smith:
As one of the oldest and more veteran status professional wakeboarders holding sway in the Pro Wakeboard Tour, Dean Smith is a thirty-two year old professional from Sydney, Australia. Having turned professional all the way back in 2004, Dean Smith definitely has established quite a legacy in the Pro Wakeboard Tour and has held his own all these years. To still be in contention for the league leadership position this far into his career is quite a feat for Dean Smith to have achieved, and is one of his accolades as a pro.
Dean Smith is a regular stance wakeboarder, with a laid back style that incorporates a lot of creativity and innovation into his lines and combinations. Dean is another professional in the Pro Wakeboard Tour who is riding for Ronix as his primary board sponsor. His boat board heading into 2017 is the Ronix Code model wakeboard, although Ronix is by no means Dean Smith’s only major sponsorship. Some other big name sponsors currently backing Dean Smith include Rockstar Energy Drinks, Nautique, Rip Curl, Perf Ski, Ronix, and several others.
6th Place Pro Wakeboard Tour Ranking – Rusty Malinoski:
Among the most dangerous contenders leading up to the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour has got to be Rusty Malinoski, who is currently holding onto the sixth place ranking. Rusty is another long term veteran of professional wakeboarding, as he is even more senior than Dean Smith. Rusty is now thirty-three years old, and turned pro way back in the year 2003. Rusty Malinoski is a Canadian professional wakeboarder, and along with being among the most senior wakeboarding pros still in contention for leadership in the Pro Wakeboard Tour, he is also one of the largest competitors standing tall at six feet tall and almost two-hundred pounds.
Rusty is another goofy stance wakeboarder holding a top league position moving toward the 2017 Pro Wakeboard Tour, and is an extremely formidable wakeboarder to be competing against. Rusty’s last major second place podium finish was at a competition in May of 2016 at Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, so perhaps he is past due for another major competition finish. Rusty is an exceptional brand representative for Hyperlite wakeboards, and his current primary boat board is the Hyperlite Kruz Nova model wakeboard. Malinoski has a fairly broad range of major sponsorship collected over his many years of competition, with an overview of those sponsors consisting of Hyperlite, Rockstar Energy Drinks, MasterCraft, Body Glove, Fox, Rosewell Marine, and a few others.
