Chico’s Gentry Stein wins national yo-yo competition

Gentry Stein of Chico is captured in his winning performance during the 2019 1A National Yo-Yo Championship July 6-7 in Philadelphia, Penn. (Contributed by the National Yo-Yo Museum)
Gentry Stein of Chico practices before the 1A final event during the 2017 National Yo-Yo Contest at the Center for the Arts Saturday in Chico. - Emily Bertolino — Enterprise-Record
Gentry Stein of Chico practices before the 1A final event during the 2017 National Yo-Yo Contest at the Center for the Arts Saturday in Chico. - Emily Bertolino — Enterprise-Record
Chico native Gentry Stein with his National Yo-Yo Contest Division 1A trophy. Stein will be a judge for the Futures Yo-Yo Contest 2016 in the Chico City Plaza. - Contributed photo
Chico native Gentry Stein competes in the National Yo-Yo Contest earlier this month in Los Angeles. Stein again won the Division 1A championship. He will be a judge for the Futures Yo-Yo Contest 2016 in the Chico City Plaza. - Contributed photo
Chico’s own reigning 1A World Champion Gentry Stein at the state yo-yo championships April 16, 2016 at the Chico City Plaza. The spring event is a qualifier for nationals. - Dan Reidel — Enterprise-Record file
Left to right, Nate Dailey of Paradise, Gentry Stein of Chico and Andrew Maider of Clifton Park, NY. were third, first and second in the 1A Division during the National Yo-Yo Championships in 2015 recently in Redondo Beach. - Contributed photo
For the first time the National Yo-Yo Contest was not held in Chico, but its ties to Chico were not so easily erased. Gentry Stein, of Chico, won the national championship in September 2015 in Redondo Beach. Stein is no stranger to winning big, as he competed and won the World Yo-Yo Contest in Prague, Czech Republic last year, where this file photo was taken. - Contributed file photo
Yo-yo competitors Gentry Stein (left) and Zac Rubino (right) practice yo-yo tricks in the Yo-Yo Museum at Bird and Hand inAugust 2011 in Chico.(Jason Halley/Staff Photo)<p class='dotPhoto'>All Chico E-R photos are available <a href='http://chicoer.mycapture.com/'>here</a>.</p>
Paradise resident Nate Dailey flings his yo-yo into the air in the 4A finals during the 2014 National Yo-Yo Contest in Chico. The competition has since moved to different locations, with this year’s nationals being held in September 2016 in Los Angeles. - Dan Reidel — Enterprise-Record file

PUBLISHED: July 10, 2019 at 2:50 p.m. | UPDATED: July 10, 2019 at 4:44 p.m.

CHICO — Chico resident and long-time yo-yo competitor Gentry Stein came away as the 2019 1A National Yo-Yo Champion in a competition July 6-7 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Players from all over the country who had qualified in contests throughout the year converged for the biggest national yo-yo contest to date, according to Bob Malowney of Chico, considered the father of yo-yo interest and competitions in Chico and beyond.

Stein won “in the most competitive finals ever, by turning in a technically flawless and greatly entertaining three-minute freestyle performance,” Malowney wrote in an email to this publication.

According to Malowney, this is the fourth time Stein has won the National’s 1A title. He had also topped the field in 2013, 2015, and 2016. He is the only four-time 1A champion in the 27 years of the contest.

Also Nate Dailey of Paradise and Chico competed in the contest, Malowney noted.

Malowney said a new trend was evident at the contest.

“Younger players are scoring higher than in past years. A youth movement is dawning just in time for the first ever held, the Junior National Yo-Yo Contest that will be held Oct. 5, in Chico’s City Plaza.”

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