Although the early heats of Round Two saw many top seeds advance at Sunset, things started to get interesting once the swell peaked in the afternoon. Torrey Meister set the bar for the day when he threaded a gaping barrel to post most a massive score. Luckily, Brazilian Qualifying Series warrior Bino Lopes snuck through behind Meister to keep his solid No. 8 Qualifying Series rank safe for now.
A pair of Australian Championship Tour veterans, Bede Durbidge and Tom Whitaker, also advanced with classic, committed rail surfing. But the standout performances in this set of heats came from rising stars. Finn McGill, Josh Moniz, and Griffin Colapinto put on the heat of the day with searing carves and technical tuberiding that belied their collective youth.