17th Annual Johnny Romano Make-A-Wish Skate Jam

Posted on Sunday, November 17, 2013 by Sebastian

Photos, video, and words by Aaron Austin, Joe Pelham, and Frank Branca.

Results

Bowl Jam
- 1. Raney Beres 2. Zach Castillo 3. Tristan Funkhouser 4. Cody Lockwood 5. Evan Smith
- Honorable Mentions: Wes Kremer, Alex Midler, Madars Apse, Andrew Wallace
A-frame Best Trick
- 1.Nyjah Huston 2. Ryan Thompson 3. Chris Cole 4. Jonathan Bastian 5. Zion Wright
- Honorable Mentions: Madars Apse, Felipse Gustavo, Zack Godlewski
Zumiez Best Trick
- 1. Nyjah Huston 2. Ryan Thompson 3. Chris Cole 4. Zion Wright 5. Justin Vinson
- Honorable Mentions: Frankie Heck, Christian Dufrene

Uncle Sam joined in the wave going down the line of spectators out front of Southside Skatepark as HiDefJoe captured the moment.

Thank you to the staff of the Johnny Romano Skate Jam for keeping everything organized. They all did it with a smile, too.

The Johnny Romano Skate Jam T-shirt.

Ramante

SPoT local Ramante Cooper hails from Houston and happened to be visiting at the right time to catch the contest. See you back in Tampa Ramante.

Heath

Heath Cherryhomes - frontside feeble through the bowl corner at lighting speed.

Heath

Heath was like a brother to Johnny. He had the Johnny Romano logo tattooed on his arm in remembrance. You shredded today, Heath.

Zach

Zach Castillo - body jar.

Tristan

Tristan Funkhouser was charging. He skates with a lot of power for being such a little guy.

Raney

Raney Beres only managed to make it for the last five minutes of the bowl jam, but that's all it took for him to take first place. He's a maniac on a skateboard - it's incredible to watch.

DC sponsored the event and was giving out free product all day. This kid got a hat. Check out that ill Tupac and Biggie sweater with The Boss on it.

There was an autograph session for an hour after the bowl jam. The DC and Real teams sat down to sign posters, shirts and pretty much anything for the fans.

Madars

Madars Apse giving a fan some knucks.

Steve

Steve Nesser and the Send Help crew. Steve was selling Todd Bratrud prints for just $10.

Ishod

Ishod Wair and Alex Midler posed for a fan's selfie while the rest of the team signed autographs.

Zach

I didn't realize until I reviewed my photos that something was hanging in front of my lens when I shot this photo of Zach Godlewski doing a late shuv over the bump-to-bar. Thanks Zach for showing us around the street spots in Houston.

Chris

Chris Cole - ollie over to backside noseblunt slide.

Madars

Madars Apse didn't make this kickflip over the bump-to-bar to backside tailslide down the hubba during the official time, but landed it soon after.

Mouse was painting custom Johnny Romano grip in the tent city outside the park.

Nyjah

Nyjah Huston - kickflip frontside hurricane.

Chris

Chris Cole - switch hardflip over the moon.

Kechaud

Kechaud Johnson must have set a world record with this waist-high kickflip up the stairs. It was an incredible moment in skateboarding.

The crowd pitched in whatever money they had in their pockets to push Kechaud to land the kickflip. It went straight to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, on top of the money donated by the winners of the bowl jam and best trick contests.

Felipe

Felipe Gustavo's board fetched $150 in an impromptu auction. More money for Make-A-Wish.

Chris

This is not photoshopped. The past meets the present - Chris Cole and the Chris Cole impostor.

Thanks for everything DC and team.

Jim

The Real team brought great vibes and donated tons of product and cash at the expense of Jim Thiebaud's body. Thanks for putting your body on the line in the name of charity, Jim. He even got pelted with a water balloon by Schaefer.