MOUNT SNOW, Vt. – Tucker Hibbert had been throttling the competition all day. He blazed through the qualifying rounds with ease and cruised through his semifinal. Close friend Blair Morgan did the same. And the stage was set for the much-anticipated rematch between Boy Wonder and Superman.

But dreams of another X Games gold medal were dashed when Hibbert, who appeared to have a firm grip on the course, and his sled, lost control of his ride midway through the final on Beaver Hill Run.

Morgan can now add Winter X gold to his resume.

The race was all but over after Hibbert's sled betrayed him. Morgan coasted through two-plus laps to claim his first gold medal on Friday as Winter X SnoCross champion.

"It feels good," said Morgan, now a three-time X Games medalist. "I thought I should have won the last bunch of them. It's a lot of hype and stuff like that, but it's just another race."

Hibbert was rocketing around the course. Morgan was chasing. The two riders were distancing themselves from the field when Hibbert went flying off his sled.

"Yeah, I was right behind him ... he hit the throttle right at the top, kind of looped out and just threw it away," Morgan said. "He tried to get away from the machine. He went down hard."

Fortunately, Hibbert recognized he wasn't going to regain his balance so he let his machine drift away. Detached from his careening sled, Hibbert slammed onto the track heels-first, then bounced on his backside. Morgan slipped past him.

Hibbert rolled over to watch for oncoming traffic, but didn't get up.

He was taken off the course on a sled by the ski patrol.

Morgan goes big during the SnoCross final.

"I think he's OK," Morgan said. "He said his butt hurts really bad. They were making sure it wasn't his back. I stopped to talk to him and he seemed to be OK."

Kent Ipsen, of Antioch, Ill., and D.J. Eckstrom, of Duluth, Minn., picked up the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Both were first-time Winter X medalists.

The 16-year-old Hibbert showed no signs of cracking under pressure in his attempt to repeat as champion. Expectations were high, but Hibbert was ready. He won all three qualifiers, destroying T.J. Gulla by 6.3 seconds in round three.

"I think more pressure was on (Hibbert)," said Morgan, who won two of his three qualifying rounds.

In his second qualifier, the 25-year-old Morgan blew away Eckstrom by 5.9 seconds. Notice was served by both drivers. Hibbert and Morgan clearly had the fastest sleds on the day.

"I think coming down the hill I felt I was going pretty fast," said Morgan, who moved from the middle of the pack in the semifinals to overtake Chris Vincent for the win. "I was just riding smooth and in control."

Indeed, control was the name of the game.

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