SALT LAKE CITY — In his third year on the Dew Tour, 16-year-old Chaz Ortiz still looks like the youngest skater in the contest, but he doesn't act like it.
"I don't get intimidated," he said of skating with guys like Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez and Gret Lutzka. "I skate with them all the time."
Ortiz won the skate park final Saturday night by the narrowest of margins, thanks to a thrilling performance in the seven-minute jam session, which concluded the finals. Greg Lutzka, 25, led the competition going into the jam session and was disappointed but gracious when Ortiz edged him by less than half a point. Ortiz scored 89.25, while Lutzka earned 88.9. Crowd favorite Ryan Sheckler, who didn't compete in Salt Lake last year because of an injury, finished third with a score of 84.55.
Ortiz was nonchalant about his victory — which is his fourth on the Dew Tour, but his first this season. The win puts him in second place in the overall Dew Tour standings, right behind Lutzka.
"I don't think about it," Ortiz said. "I'm just going to skate how I normally do."
He said he could see the tricks his competitors were doing during the jam session and that helped him decide what he needed to win.
"I knew what I had to do," he said. He said his specialties are "switch skating and having fun."
Ortiz loves competing in Salt Lake City. He won his first Dew Tour event in Salt Lake three years ago.
"It's been pretty good for me," he said, smiling as fans begged him for autographs. "I think it's the weather; some of the guys get winded, but I love it. It was a good contest."
Unlike the other guys on the tour, Ortiz still has to try and balance high school with a professional skating career.
"School is hard," he said. "I'm gone every weekend."
His mother said keeping him on the schedule of a regular teen helps keep him grounded.
"School, structure, he really lives a simple life," said Natalia Ortiz. One of his parents travels with him to every contest.
When asked about the young girls yelling at him for autographs, she smiled.
"It's weird sometimes," she said. "But I guess it comes with the world he's in."
Ortiz shrugs off the attention.
"These aren't the girls to go after," he said. "They don't really know who you are."
The win puts Ortiz in a good position going into the season's final event next month in Las Vegas. Even so, he's not worried about whether or not he earns the eventual top prize — the Dew Cup.
"Whatever happens happens," he said as he turns to throw his hat to some young fans. "If I come out on top then great."
In the BMX Dirt Final, Dennis Enarson, La Mesa, Calif., won top honors. It was his first podium of the 2010 Dew Tour season. He edged Brandon Dosch, Michigan, by scoring 92.54 points to Dosch's 90.62 points. Brett Banasiewicz, the 15-year-old who has dominated every BMX dirt competition this season, finished third with a score of 90.44.
"A lot of guys were going really big today and looking to throw never-before-seen tricks," said Enarson. "I've learned that doesn't really work for me, so I just went out there and really focused on my technique."
Banasiewicz's third-place finish keeps him number one in the Dew Tour standings with one event left this year.
"I think I still have a chance at the Dew Cup, and it'd definitely be crazy to get it," said Banasiewicz. "Both Dennis and Brandon rode amazing today, so Vegas should be a great competition."
e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com