Aspen’s Alex Ferreira, Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck make it through to ski pipe finals at world championships
Aspen’s Alex Ferreira made it through to the men’s ski halfpipe finals at the 2019 FIS World Championships in Park City, Utah. During Thursday’s two-run qualifying round at Park City Mountain, Ferreira scored 91.40 on his second run to finish fourth.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist David Wise scored 92.00 on his first run to finish atop the qualifying results. In second was Canada’s Simon D’Artois (91.80), while Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck, the reigning world champion, was third with 91.60.
For Ferreira, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, this is his first time competing at the world championships, which is held every two years. The 24-year-old Aspen native is having arguably the best season of his career, taking the Dew Tour title for the second consecutive year back in December and then finally winning the elusive X Games Aspen gold last month.
Saturday’s men’s pipe finals, which get going around 11 a.m., also will include France’s Kevin Rolland, Norway’s Birk Ruud, New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, Canada’s Noah Bowman, Avon’s Taylor Seaton and France’s Thomas Krief.
The lone American to not make it out of the 24-man qualifier was Winter Park’s Birk Irving, who was 13th.
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In the women’s ski halfpipe qualifier on Thursday, it was reigning Olympic and X Games Aspen gold medalist Cassie Sharpe of Canada who finished at the top, scoring 93.20. Estonian teen sensation Kelly Sildaru, fresh off three X Games Aspen medals, was second with 92.00, while California’s Brita Sigourney was third with 90.20.
Also making it through to the eight-woman finals are Canada’s Rachael Karker, China’s Kexin Zhang and Fanghui Li, Tahoe’s Maddie Bowman and Austria’s Elisabeth Gram.
Hampered throughout the week by heavy snow, the 2019 World Championships are fast approaching their conclusion in Park City. The men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe finals are scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning, with the freestyle moguls final set for 7 p.m. Along with the ski halfpipe finals on Saturday, the freestyle dual moguls final is Saturday night.
The event concludes Sunday with the men’s and women’s snowboard slopestyle final at 11 a.m. The closing ceremonies are at 4 p.m.
All competitions are televised on NBC Sports Network, with NBC televising Saturday’s men’s ski halfpipe final.
Basalt wrestling beats Rifle in final home dual of the season
The Basalt High School wrestling team snuck past visiting Rifle on Thursday, winning 39-36 in its final home dual of the regular season.
Of the seven contested matches, Rifle won four of them. Earning wins for Basalt were Ernesto Lopez, Axel Requeno and Walker Lassiter.