Nevadan David Wise advances to Olympic halfpipe ski finals

David Wise, of the United States, jumps during the men's halfpipe qualifying at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

David Wise, of the United States, crashes during the men's halfpipe qualifying at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Nevadan David Wise will defend his gold medal in the halfpipe ski final later this week after qualifying Tuesday afternoon (Monday night PST) in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Wise, a Reno resident, qualified with a score of 79.60 on his second run, good enough to put him in eighth place. The top 12 competitors moved on to the finals.

He fell on his last hit of his first run, earning just a 24.80 and putting pressure on him to come through on his second run, which he did.

The three other Americans in the competition — Aaron Blunck, Alex Ferreira and Torin Yater-Wallace — posted the top three scores in the qualification round respectively.

The finals will take place on Wednesday night — Thursday afternoon in South Korea. Each competitor will have three runs and Wise is a favorite in the event.

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.