HUNTINGTON BEACH, California (Thursday, June 24, 2010) - 2009 ASP North America Pro Junior Series Champion Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 19, clinched an impressive runner-up result at this week’s ASP 6-Star Sri Lankan Airlines Pro by finishing behind Australian standout Julian Wilson (Coolum, AUS), 22, in a hard-fought Final at Sri Lanka’s idyllic righthand pointbreak of Arugam Bay.

Young’s second-place finish amongst some of the globe’s finest up-and-coming competitive talent not only catapults the lethal goofy-footer to No. 69 on the men’s ASP World Ranking, but also establishes the American as the frontrunner for qualification for the ASP World Junior Championships due to his performance on the men’s Star Ratings as the top rated American surfer of ASP Pro Junior age.

The talented Californian relied on his polished backhand attack on the firing Sri Lankan right-handers to earn the impressive Final berth while marching past a solid list of international competitors including Australian Jayke Sharp (Coffs Harbour, AUS), 22, Basque talent Hodei Collazo (EUK), ASP Pro Junior talent Chris Friend (Sunshine Coast, AUS), 19, and former ASP Dream Tour campaigners Nic Muscroft (Victoria, AUS), 27, and David Weare (Durban, ZAF), 29, before falling to Wilson in their battle for the Sri Lankan Airlines Pro title.

“I’ve had an amazing week here and I’m really grateful to have made the final” Young said. “I knew the only way to beat Julian (Wilson) would be to score two excellent waves in that Final. He has been the standout all week. I went for the win but came unstuck on a few critical moves but I’m really pleased with this result.”

Also marching to a notable result was San Diego native Austin Ware (Solana Beach, CA), 29, who finished fifth overall in the ASP 6-Star event. The solid finish for the explosive talent moves him to No. 55 on the Men’s World Ranking.

Ware also had a hand in ousting a stacked list of professional surfing talent including former ASP Dream Tour surfers Royden Bryson (East London, ZAF), 27, and Ricky Basnett (Durban, ZAF), 24, before falling to Sharp in the Quarterfinals.

The next event on the ASP North America calendar will be the ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Pro Puerto Escondido, which runs from July 16 through 23, 2010.