Hank Gaskell didn't get the celebratory ride on his friends' shoulders yesterday, but he did get the victory.

Gaskell was the surprise winner of the Xcel Pro men's surfing contest yesterday at Sunset Beach. It was the first significant victory of his professional career.

"It's an amazing start for my winter," said Gaskell, who is 23 and from Häna, Maui. "I never had a result this good in my life, so I'm really excited."

The semifinals and final were completed in wave-face heights of around 10 to 15 feet at Sunset Beach.

Gaskell defeated three veteran surfers, including Sunset Beach stalwarts Pancho Sullivan and Myles Padaca, in the championship heat.

"I don't think I'm anywhere near the level where Pancho and Myles and Shane (Beschen) are at," Gaskell said. "I just got lucky in the final and got my waves — did my own thing and it turned out to be good enough somehow."

Sullivan and Padaca are proven winners on Oahu's North Shore, and Beschen was ranked as high as No. 2 on the ASP World Tour in 1996.

Perhaps because of that, Gaskell opted to stay in his own area to wait for the waves to roll in.

"I knew it was going to be tough to beat them," he said. "I didn't want to sit at the peak with them because they had bigger boards and I knew they were going to catch the good ones if they came."

The announcement of Gaskell's win on the victory dais was almost as dramatic as the surfing.

Moments after the final heat was completed, Sullivan's friends greeted him at the shoreline and carried him on their shoulders along the beach, even though the final results had yet to be tallied.

Gaskell, walking alone on the beach, assumed Sullivan had won the contest at that point.

"I was just hoping I got second," Gaskell said. "I didn't see a lot of Pancho's waves, but I saw him get a smaller one and he surfed really well. I honestly didn't think I had it. Those guys are so good out there."

The judges' final tally had Gaskell with a two-wave total score of 13.67, including an 8.17, which was the best wave of the heat. Sullivan placed second with 12.13. Padaca was third with 10.9, and Beschen was fourth with 7.3.

"I knew it was close; a couple people came up and said I won it, but you never know," Sullivan said. "I would have loved to win another one. Obviously, that's always a thrill. But I'm stoked for Hank. He really deserves it."

Sullivan, 36, won the Xcel Pro last year for a record-tying fourth time (Michael Ho also owns four Xcel titles). He was the standout surfer of the earlier rounds, when the waves were bigger.

The third round and quarterfinals were run in epic conditions on Sunday, but the semifinals and final had to be pushed to yesterday morning due to time restraints.

"It started to die in the final a little bit, which was a little disappointing," Sullivan said. "It dropped a little bit, but it's still incredible Sunset."

Gaskell and became the second surfer from Maui to win it in the 26-year history of the contest (Ian Walsh from Kuau won it in 2005).

"Even though I'm from Maui, the North Shore (of Oahu) has always been really important for me to be good out here," Gaskell said. "I've worked hard at it and today it paid off."

Gaskell received $5,000 and a trip to Tahiti to compete in a contest next year.

The prize money came at a perfect time. Gaskell has been surfing without a major sponsor in 2009, and recently spent most of his savings on new surfboards.

"I got dropped (by sponsors) at the beginning of the year and been working hard trying to figure something out," he said. "This is my last $5,000 now."

Gaskell is already qualified for the upcoming Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, but is hoping his victory yesterday will draw the attention of sponsors so he can compete on the world tour in 2010.

"I really want to get a sponsor and be able to travel more," he said.

He also wouldn't mind getting a victory ride on the shoulders of his friends.

"I never had one of those," he said with a laugh.

Sullivan retired from the world tour last year so he could concentrate on business — and surfing — in Hawaii.

He and Padaca are partners in Progressive Surfing, which offers lessons for surfers of all skill levels. Despite their friendship and business partnership, Sullivan and Padaca were on their own during yesterday's final.

"We did our own thing out there," Sullivan said. "Obviously we both wanted to win, but we never talked about helping each other out or anything like that. I'm a firm believer in focusing on yourself in situations like this."

The Xcel Pro is the annual kickoff event for the famous North Shore surfing season.

The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing is scheduled to start Nov. 12 at Haleiwa Alii Beach.

XCEL PRO FINAL RESULTS

1, Hank Gaskell, $5,000. 2, Pancho Sullivan, $2,500. 3, Myles Padaca, $2,000. 4, Shane Beschen, $1,500. 5 (tie), Sean Moody and Danny Fuller, $1,200. 7 (tie), Charlie Carroll and Daniel Jones, $1,000. 9 (tie), Flynn Novak, Joel Centeio, Billy Kemper and Albee Layer, $800. 13 (tie), Keli Everett, Shinpei Horiguchi, Rainos Hayes and Jonah Morgan, $600.