BIIF Track Results from Kona – Top 6

Keaau boys win, girls place second

BIIF All Comers                                Konawaena High School  – 4/17/2010                     Kealakekua, HI                            Results                                    

Girls 100 Meter Dash

  1 Kristina Padrigo          FR Ka’u                     13.57   5  10  

  2 Alyssa Hoshida            JR Hilo                     13.58   2   8  

  3 Katie Aguilar             SO Honokaa                  13.59   5   6  

  4 Erika Cushnie             SR Waiakea                  13.63   1   4  

  5 Lyndsey Neubecker         SO Kealakehe                13.72   5   2  

  6 Kailyn Chock              SR Waiakea                  13.75   5   1  

Girls 200 Meter Dash

  1 MACKENZIE Buckner         JR Hawaii Prep              27.97   4  10  

  2 Katie Aguilar             SO Honokaa                  28.10   4   8  

  3 Pamela Lynn               JR Hawaii Prep              28.48   4   6  

  4 Jo-Lynn Kahala-Minzer     SR Kealakehe                29.00   4   4  

  5 Jasmine Fojas             FR Hawaii Prep              29.13   1   2  

  6 Erika Cushnie             SR Waiakea                  29.21   3   1  

Girls 400 Meter Dash

  1 Randi Estrada             SO Keaau                  1:01.61   3  10  

  2 Kaila Voss                SO Kealakehe              1:03.79   3   8  

  3 Zoe Sims                  FR Hawaii Prep            1:04.00   3   6  

  4 Katie Aguilar             SO Honokaa                1:05.31   3   4  

  5 Nadia Ramirez             JR Hilo                   1:05.49   3   2  

  6 Vandey Okinaka            FR Waiakea                1:07.17   1   1  

Girls 800 Meter Run

  1 Kailyn Chock              SR Waiakea                2:28.77   10  

  2 Deann Nishimura-Thornton  SO Keaau                  2:34.00    8  

  3 Kela Vargas               JR Hawaii Prep            2:35.81    6  

  4 Kelsie Kobayashi          SO Waiakea                2:37.15    4  

  5 Levi Mabuni                  Makua Lani             2:38.35    2  

  6 Mary Josephine Osorio     JR Kohala                 2:45.29    1  

Girls 1500 Meter Run

  1 Deann Nishimura-Thornton  SO Keaau                  5:21.66   10  

  2 Traci Palermo             JR Hilo                   5:22.22    8  

  3 Kela Vargas               JR Hawaii Prep            5:25.66    6  

  4 Levi Mabuni                  Makua Lani             5:30.05    4  

  5 Tialana Greenwell         JR Honokaa                5:34.33    2  

  6 Claire Uyetake            SR Hilo                   5:38.82    1  

Girls 3000 Meter Run

  1 Kelsie Kobayashi          SO Waiakea               11:48.32   10  

  2 Tialana Greenwell         JR Honokaa               11:52.04    8  

  3 Shalila De Bourmont       SO Hilo                  12:05.97    6  

  4 Grace Choe                SO Makua Lani            12:20.49    4  

  5 Zoe Sims                  FR Hawaii Prep           12:31.16    2  

  6 Athena Oldfather          SR Honokaa               12:44.90    1  

Girls 100 Meter Hurdles

  1 Lana Queen                JR Hawaii Prep              17.08   3  10  

  2 Bree Delacruz             SO Hilo                     17.74   3   8  

  3 Azmera Hammouri-Davis     SO Keaau                    18.25   3   6  

  4 Chelsea Ashimine          JR Hawaii Prep              18.31   1   4  

  5 Cathryn Orton             SR Kealakehe                18.57   3   2  

  6 Alisha Gangwes            SR Ka’u                     18.76   3   1  

Girls 300 Meter Hurdles

  1 Lana Queen                JR Hawaii Prep              50.00   3  10  

  2 Azmera Hammouri-Davis     SO Keaau                    50.20   3   8  

  3 Jasmine Ward              SO Konawaena                51.34   3   6  

  4 Raycee Cooke              SO Hilo                     52.69   3   4  

  5 Bree Delacruz             SO Hilo                     53.83   3   2  

  6 Chelsea Ashimine          JR Hawaii Prep              55.30   3   1  

Girls 4×100 Meter Relay

  1 Hawaii Preparatory Academy                            53.63   1  10  

  2 Keaau High School                                     54.55   1   8  

  3 Kealakehe                                             54.82   1   6  

  4 Ka’u High School                                      56.26   1   4  

  5 Keaau High School  ‘B’                                59.26   2

  6 Hawaii Preparatory Academy  ‘B’                     1:01.78   2

Girls 4×400 Meter Relay

  1 Keaau High School                                   4:21.99   10  

  2 Hawaii Preparatory Academy                          4:27.12    8  

  3 Kealakehe                                           4:32.43    6  

  4 Ka’u High School                                    4:53.58    4  

  5 Hawaii Preparatory Academy  ‘B’                     5:01.88 

Girls High Jump

  1 Erika Cushnie             SR Waiakea                5-00.00   10   

  2 Kaila Voss                SO Kealakehe              4-10.00    8  

  3 Randi Estrada             SO Keaau                 J4-10.00    6  

  4 Kelsi Nishina             JR Hawaii Prep            4-08.00    4  

  5 Holly Lambert             SR Waiakea                4-06.00    1.50

  5 Rachel Bianchi               Kealakehe              4-06.00    1.50

Girls Pole Vault

  1 Sydney Budde              SO Hawaii Prep            8-00.00   10  

  2 Kaylee Rapoza             FR Hilo                  J8-00.00    8  

  3 Carissa Bell-Chase        SR Honokaa                7-00.00    5  

  3 Shina Chung               SO Hilo                   7-00.00    5  

  5 Taylor Esaki              SO Hawaii Prep           J7-00.00    2  

  6 Rose Nakamura             FR Hilo                  J7-00.00    1  

  7 Natalie Orevella          SO Hilo                   6-06.00 

  8 Lillie Davis              FR Keaau                 J6-06.00 

  9 Autumn Miyares Thompson   FR Keaau                  6-00.00 

 — Abyssinia Hammouri-Davis  FR Keaau                       NH 

Girls Long Jump

  1 Kaila Voss                SO Kealakehe             14-04.50   10  

  2 Azmera Hammouri-Davis     SO Keaau                 14-03.50    8  

  3 Pamela Lynn               JR Hawaii Prep           14-00.75    6  

  4 Jasmine Ward              SO Konawaena             13-11.25    4  

  5 Sara Drennan              JR Hawaii Prep           13-01.00    2  

  6 Karley Swain              SO Waiakea               13-00.00    1  

Girls Triple Jump

  1 Azmera Hammouri-Davis     SO Keaau                 31-09.25   10  

  2 Lana Queen                JR Hawaii Prep           30-00.00    8  

  3 Pamela Lynn               JR Hawaii Prep           28-10.50    6  

  4 Sara Drennan              JR Hawaii Prep           27-01.75    4  

  5 MACKENZIE Buckner         JR Hawaii Prep           26-11.00    2  

  6 Rachel Bianchi               Kealakehe             26-06.50    1  

Girls Shot Put

  1 Linda Sunia               JR Hilo                  33-03.00   10  

  2 Misilosa Uulopa           JR Konawaena             30-08.00    8  

  3 Jacquelyn Kaio-Goo        SR Keaau                 30-02.75    6  

  4 Angeline Hoke             SR Waiakea               28-04.75    4  

  5 Siuleo Enos               SR Pahoa                 28-03.25    2  

  6 Jessica Muskat            SO Honokaa               28-02.25    1  

Girls Discus Throw

  1 Linda Sunia               JR Hilo                 103-09.75   10  

  2 Janna Urakami             JR Waiakea                 100-05    8  

  3 Jacquelyn Kaio-Goo        SR Keaau                    99-10    6  

  4 Matelita Tamoefalau       SO Konawaena             94-05.50    4  

  5 Jessica Muskat            SO Honokaa               90-11.50    2  

  6 Shyla Ronia               SR Keaau                 86-06.50    1  

Boys 100 Meter Dash

  1 Jesse Huihui              SO Keaau                    11.29   8  10  

  2 Kaimi Scott               SR Waiakea                  11.39   8   8  

  3 Rocky Lominario           SR Kealakehe                11.41   8   6  

  4 Jacob Edwards             SR Ka’u                     11.42   8   4  

  5 Shannon White             SR Keaau                    11.69   8   2  

  6 Kawohi Schutte            SO Hawaii Prep              11.71   8   1  

Boys 200 Meter Dash

  1 Jesse Huihui              SO Keaau                    22.96   6  10  

  2 Kaimi Scott               SR Waiakea                  23.04   6   8  

  3 Owen Cooper               SR Waiakea                  23.31   6   6  

  4 Luca Walter               SO Kealakehe                23.93   6   4  

  5 Damien Packer             SO Keaau                    23.98   3   2  

  6 Brock Namyo               SO Kealakehe                24.27   1   1  

Boys 400 Meter Dash

  1 Kaimi Scott               SR Waiakea                  51.35   4  10  

  2 Luca Walter               SO Kealakehe                52.05   4   8  

  3 Owen Cooper               SR Waiakea                  52.52   4   6  

  4 Dylan Steele              SR Kealakehe                52.93   4   4  

  5 Jordan Decoito            SR Hilo                     53.89   4   2  

  6 Cameron Calistro          SR Hilo                     54.84   1   1  

Boys 800 Meter Run

  1 Daniel Brooks             SR Keaau                  2:04.10   10  

  2 Dylan Steele              SR Kealakehe              2:06.91    8  

  3 Ethan Meikle              SR Kohala                 2:07.94    6  

  4 Jackson Halford           SO Waiakea                2:10.22    4  

  5 Juan Sepulveda            SO Kealakehe              2:11.24    2  

  6 Kevin Olsen               JR Keaau                  2:16.77    1  

Boys 1500 Meter Run

  1 Joshua Robinson           JR Honokaa                4:29.59   10  

  2 Chayce Moniz              SO Honokaa                4:30.92    8  

  3 Juan Sepulveda            SO Kealakehe              4:33.31    6  

  4 Geoff Whitener            JR Kealakehe              4:42.34    4  

  5 Wayne Pavao               JR Keaau                  4:46.14    2  

  6 Shawn Andrada             SR Keaau                  4:53.42    1  

Boys 3000 Meter Run

  1 Daniel Brooks             SR Keaau                  9:40.88   10  

  2 Geoff Whitener            JR Kealakehe              9:48.96    8  

  3 Jackson Halford           SO Waiakea                9:50.09    6  

  4 Tyde Kunishiro            JR Hilo                  10:09.84    4  

  5 Kevin Olsen               JR Keaau                 10:16.07    2  

  6 Andrew Langtree           FR St Joseph             10:22.08    1  

Boys 110 Meter Hurdles

  1 Jacob Edwards             SR Ka’u                     14.47   2  10  

  2 Damien Packer             SO Keaau                    16.56   2   8  

  3 Sai Weiss                 SR Hilo                     17.58   2   6  

  4 Dylan Oakes               FR Hawaii Prep              18.08   1   4  

  5 Yasu Miyakawa             SO Hawaii Prep              19.04   1   2  

  6 Rick Micheals             JR Hilo                     19.05   1   1  

Boys 300 Meter Hurdles

  1 Jacob Edwards             SR Ka’u                     38.80   3  10  

  2 Dylan Oakes               FR Hawaii Prep              43.99   3   8  

  3 Cliff Eriksson            SO Keaau                    44.20   3   6  

  4 Aaron Pa’ani Ashcroft     SR Kealakehe                44.81   3   4  

  5 Rick Micheals             JR Hilo                     45.33   3   2  

  6 Michael Rabara            FR Konawaena                45.88   1   1  

Boys 4×100 Meter Relay

  1 Keaau High School                                     44.97   10  

  2 Kealakehe                                             45.98    8  

  3 Hilo                                                  46.74    6  

  4 Hilo  ‘B’                                             48.23 

  5 Honoka’a                                              49.52    4  

  6 Hawaii Preparatory Academy  ‘B’                       50.30 

Boys 4×400 Meter Relay

  1 Kealakehe                                           3:44.40   10  

  2 Keaau High School                                   3:44.77    8  

  3 Honoka’a                                            3:47.33    6  

  4 Hawaii Preparatory Academy                          3:50.79    4  

  5 Keaau High School  ‘B’                              4:01.36 

  6 Ka’u High School                                    4:17.98    2  

Boys High Jump

  1 Ethan Meikle              SR Kohala                 6-00.00   10  

  2 George Twigg-Smith           Hawaii Prep            5-10.00    8  

  3 Jacob St George           SR Waiakea                5-04.00    6  

  4 Robert Mockchew           JR Kealakehe              5-02.00    3  

  4 Ikaika Kua-Nachor         SR Kealakehe              5-02.00    3  

  5 Ka’u Eggers               SO Keaau                 J5-02.00    1  

  6 Hunter Wilburn            JR Waiakea               J5-02.00 

Boys Pole Vault

  1 Wong Ly                   SR Hilo                  11-00.00   10  

  2 Nelson Enos               SO Keaau                J11-00.00    8  

  3 Ka’u Eggers               SO Keaau                 10-06.00    6  

  4 Nick Ito                  SO Kealakehe              9-06.00    4  

  5 Katon Pestano             FR Hilo                   8-06.00    2  

  6 Josh Whitehead            SO Kealakehe              8-00.00    1  

Boys Long Jump

  1 Jacob Edwards             SR Ka’u                  19-11.50   10  

  2 Johnny Chow               FR Keaau                 19-02.50    8  

  3 Steven Combes             SR Ka’u                  19-01.25    6  

  4 George Twigg-Smith           Hawaii Prep           18-07.50    4  

  5 Talon Ota                 FR Keaau                 18-07.25    2  

  6 Michael Morikawa          FR Waiakea               18-05.75    1  

Boys Triple Jump

  1 Travis Winters            SO Waiakea               39-07.25   10  

  2 George Twigg-Smith           Hawaii Prep           39-01.00    8  

  3 Michael Morikawa          FR Waiakea               38-00.00    6  

  4 Ka’u Eggers               SO Keaau                 37-06.50    4  

  5 Ryne Uemura               JR Waiakea               37-04.50    2  

  6 Landru Parker             SR Keaau                 36-05.25    1  

Boys Shot Put

Shane Brostek             SO Hawaii Prep           49-02.00   10  

  2 Dathan Toribio            SR Keaau                 42-04.00    8  

  3 Robert Mockchew           JR Kealakehe             40-09.00    6  

  4 Jake Jordan               SR Kealakehe             40-00.00    4  

  5 Zane Demello              JR Konawaena             38-08.25    2  

  6 Dane Demello              SR Konawaena             38-05.25    1  

Boys Discus Throw

  1 Shane Brostek             SO Hawaii Prep             139-06   10  

  2 Jake Jordan               SR Kealakehe            134-02.50    8  

  3 Kyle Tirrell              JR Hilo                    124-06    6  

  4 Robert Mockchew           JR Kealakehe            122-06.50    4  

  5 Gabby Padillo             JR Kealakehe            121-11.75    2  

  6 Dathan Toribio            SR Keaau                   116-05    1  

                    Women – Team Rankings – 16 Events Scored

    1) Hawaii Preparatory Academy 125        2) Keaau High School          97  

    3) Hilo                        73        4) Waiakea                    55.50

    5) Kealakehe                   48.50     6) Honoka’a                   37  

    7) Konawaena                   22        8) Ka’u High School           19  

    9) Makua Lani                  10       10) Pahoa                       2  

   11) Kohala High School           1                                          

                    Men – Team Rankings – 16 Events Scored

=

    1) Keaau High School          121        2) Kealakehe                 108  

    3) Waiakea                     73        4) Hawaii Preparatory Academ  59  

    5) Ka’u High School            44        6) Hilo                       40  

    7) Honoka’a                    28        8) Kohala High School         16  

    9) Konawaena                    4       10) Saint Joseph                1

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Some BIIF Wrestlers Flying Under the Radar

Justin Hirae goes for the pin against a Hilo High opponent

  Several Big Island Interscholastic Federation wrestlers have been “flying under the radar” according to Waiakea coach Stan Haraguchi and that is just the way the Warriors like it.

   “We’ve been trying to be low key about the season and not really let anyone know how good we are,” Haraguchi said.

   But when it comes to Tracy Poch, Tyler Yonemori, and Dayton Manuel there is no mistake, they are good and this past Saturday at the Waiakea gym the trio displayed why.

Tracy Poch

Poch, a sophomore who wrestles in the 155 class, has made significant strides during the season to command a perfect record.

   On Saturday Poch faced Kamehameha’s Sable Young in first round action and was never seriously threatened during the match, going up by a 15-1 score in the third period before pinning her opponent.

   “I had the top position on Sable and did a half-nelson reversal to get the pin,” Poch said.

  “I’ve been working hard this season and have been following my coaches instructions which have made a big difference from last year.”

   Last season Poch wrestled in the heavyweight division, weighing in at over 200, but a strict diet and structured workouts led to her losing over 50 pounds as she now weighs in at 154.

   Despite being bumped up to higher weight classes during the season Poch has kept her perfect string of wins intact.

  Kamehameha’s Chantel Pohina, the defending BIIF champion at 130 who now competes at 140, bumped up a weight class in order to gain more experience and to face Poch.

   During the match Poch managed a quick take down early in the first period for a 2-0 advantage and during an attempted pin of Pohina tried to use a full-nelson, but was caught and Pohina was given a point for the illegal move.

   During the second period Poch picked up another two points on a reversal and added three more points for a near fall for a 7-1 advantage going into the final period.

   The third period was all Poch as the talented sophomore increased her lead and eventually won by a 14-4 score.

   Tyler Yonemori, in just his first season of wrestling, has quickly risen to the top in the 140 class.

   Yonemori, a quiet and shy young man, is all business once on the mat as he made quick work out of Kamehameha’s Cody Freitas in first round action.

   In his second match of the day Yonemori faced a formidable opponent in Hilo’s Wong Ly.

  Ly took the aggressive position in the opening seconds as he engaged Yonemori in several spinning moves in an attempt to get the first take down, to no avail.

   Yonemori used his judo skills to gain the only take down during the first period and took a 2-0 advantage going into the second period.  Both Ly and Yonemori are extremely talented wrestlers and both managed to protect against any falls, leaving the score at 2-0 going into the third and final period.

   The final period showcased Yonemori’s immense versatility as he scored on two more take downs and a near fall to win by a 9-0 score.  Yonemori declined to be interviewed after his match.

 

Dayton Manuel

  At only 103 pounds Waiakea’s Dayton Manuel doesn’t look imposing on his competition, but the senior has been quietly leaving his mark in the 108 class.  On Saturday Manuel faced Keaau’s Kainoa Santiago and wrestled flawlessly against his opponent, winning by a 15-0 score in the second period.

   Later Manuel was back on the mat again, this time facing Pahoa’s Austin Dugan, with almost an identical result, winning 15-2.

   “I’ve gotten a lot more serious this year, since it’s my senior year,” Manuel said.  “I have more self determination, I want to do better.  I like mixing it up and working hard has made it more fun for me.”

   Manuel collected two wins on Saturday to raise his season record to 10-2, with one of those loses coming from defending BIIF 108 runner-up, Konawaena’s Sage Aoki.

Justin Hirae

The defending BIIF 108 champ, Kamehameha’s Justin Hirae, is now wrestling at 114 as he continues to dominate that weight class.

   Hirae first went against Hilo’s Jerel Miller and won by a technical 22-7 score.  Later Hirae faced Hilo’s Trent Hashimoto and quickly jumped to a 6-0 first period lead before pinning Hashimoto with 58 seconds left in the period.

   “My best competition at 114 is Lucky (Baun) from Laupahoehoe,” Hirae said.  “I always look forward to wrestling Lucky as he’s really strong and gives me a good workout.  When we face each other it makes us better wrestlers.”

   Baun didn’t show up for the BIIF Westside meet held at Honokaa on Saturday due to basketball commitments, but teammate RJ Espejo at 152 came away with a 2-1 record.

   Hirae’s only defeat this season came from Kona’s Aoki last week as Aoki bumped up from his usual 108 class to face Hirae and came away with a narrow 10-8 victory.

Nalu Souza

Also putting his perfect record on the line was Kamehameha’s Nalu Souza a sophomore at 120.  Souza has yet to lose this season and continued his streak by beating Hilo’s Brenden Branco, 21-6 in the second period, and Waiakea’s Steven Ogi with a second period pin.

   “This year I went to a lot of preseason tournaments and wrestling camps which has helped me to improve,” Souza said.  “Today I was planning to go up a weight class, but my coaches wanted me to stay at 120 and work on take downs and my ground game.”

   OFFICIALS CALL –

   Noticeable on the Waiakea mats this past Saturday was former Kamehameha wrestler and now junior official Lauren Pacheco.

   Pacheco graduated in 2009 and has returned as a certified junior official. Given several key matches to officiate on Saturday Pacheco showed no signs of uncertainty and did a great job.

   “I’m having fun doing the officiating, but I’d rather be wrestling,” Pacheco said.

   Head wrestling official, Mike Staszkow, complemented Pacheco for her performance during her first year.

   “We appreciate that Lauren is willing to come back and help us officiate,” Staszkow said.  “Without Lauren we would be short of officials and we’d need to bring someone in from Maui.  I encourage anyone who loves prep wrestling to contact us in order to get certified.”

Aina Family Rules Wrestling Mat

Megan, Charlie and Jenna Aina

In a day filled with back-arches, chicken wings, breakdowns and bridges some of the best grapplers in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation took to the mat.

   This past Saturday wrestlers from Kau, Pahoa, Keaau, Waiakea and Hilo converged at the Viking gym on two mats for daylong excitement among Eastside competition.

   The Aina ohana and Kamehameha had lots to cheer about as Megan (98), Charlie (120) and Jenna (125) all had opening match pins and went on to have a successful overall tournament.

   Megan Aina, the defending BIIF champion at 98 pounds and a brown belt in judo, had little trouble pinning her opponent in the second round to remain undefeated in league matches at the 103 or below weight class.

  “My brother and sister and I all started out doing judo when we were in elementary school,” Megan Aina said.  “I came out for wrestling last season during my freshmen year and Jenna came out to watch and decided to join this year.”

   Jenna Aina is a black belt, shoden, in judo and decided to give wrestling a try in this her senior year.  “I’m actually in the 114 weight class, but they had no one for me to wrestle in that class so I was bumped up to the 125 class.”

   Despite the obvious mismatch in size Jenna Aina still made quick work of her two opponents pinning both in less than 30 seconds.  Aina began the day pinning Kau’s Elena Mello in 19 seconds of the first round.

  During her second match Aina quickly took down Keaau’s Kaysha Kamahele, gaining the top advantage and used her quickness and strength to roll Kamahele for the 29 second pin.

  “I rolled her over with a half nelson and I didn’t expect the quick pin,” Jenna Aina said.  “I just go out there and hope for the best.  Today was just a good learning experience for me on how to set up my opponent.”

   The youngest member of the Aina family, freshman Charlie, a green belt in judo, won his opening match against Waiakea’s Steven Ogi with a second round pin.

   “I like wrestling because it teaches new techniques from that of judo,” Charlie Aina said.  “I still have a lot to learn, but its fun being here with the whole family.”

  Kamehameha coach Marlon Miller had lots to smile about having the three Aina’s take opening day matches.

   “I’ve been trying to get Jenna out for a couple of years,” Miller said.  “Jenna saw her sister wrestle last year and wanted to give it a try in her senior year.  Having the three siblings wrestle for us is a great deal as we get the entire family including the parents.  They are a great family.”

  Besides the Aina trio Kamehameha made a profound impact on the day’s tournament coming up with big wins from several of their athletes.

CJ Matsuyama

Warrior CJ Matsuyama (160) failed to win any matches in his freshman season last year.  Now as an experienced sophomore Matsuyama opened last week with two wins and came into the Hilo gym undefeated.

   In his first match of the day Matsuyama went against Waiakea’s Shane Paredas.  Paredas took the offensive right from the start and attempted a single leg take down, but landed on the wrong shoulder and Matsuyama was able to roll him over to gain the advantage.  With 26 seconds left in the first round Matsuyama capitalized on his opponent’s mistake and won by pin.

   “It’s only been through my hard work with my training partner that I was able to improve,” Matsuyama said.  “It feels great to start winning, but I still have things to learn.”

K. Sutton

Kau freshman Keani Mello brought her perfect 2-0 mark to Hilo in a match between Kamehameha’s Kaopua Sutton in the heavyweight division.

   During the match Mello maintained a good defensive position as she managed to gain the advantage in the first round and nearly pinned Sutton.

    Sutton, a true 175 class wrestler standing at 5’ 9”, had the height advantage over Mello but looked to be in trouble early in the first round against her opponent.

    “I was a little concerned coming into the match,” Sutton said.  “I was also concerned about the weight difference and at one point in the first round I almost got pinned, but I kept my head up and tried to get my hips under me so that I could stand up.”

    Sutton’s speed and quickness prevailed as she was able to pin the Kau freshman with 30 seconds left in the second period.

    “Keani has a really good attitude and is easy to coach,” Kau coach Kevin Rence said. “We only have Keani and two other kids that come out regularly for practice and one of them is her sister, Elena Mello, a junior at 120 pounds and the other is my son Tim Rence at 160.”

   “We don’t have any girls at the heavyweight class, but I have four girls at 175 and each week I’ll move one of them up to compete so that we can fill the higher weight division,” Kamehameha coach Marlon Miller said.

Wong Ly

   Hilo High coach Mike Mandaquit has been low key on one of his wrestlers, Wong Ly, at the start of the season. 

   At the Maui preseason tournament Ly went 3-1, losing by an 8-4 score in the championship round.  The talented senior showcased some of his skills on Saturday as he wrestled Kamehameha freshman Cody Freitas in the 140 weight class.

   Ly wasted no time in the opening round as he immediately went for the take down and scored a quick two points.  Freitas stayed on the defensive trying to escape from Ly without success as Ly used a drop down spin move.

   By the end of the first round Ly was ahead 7-0 and in the second round gained the pin on Freitas.

   “He made me work and he taught me a lesson,” Ly said after the match.  “I should never under estimate my opponent.  He gave me a good match and I think he’ll be good when he’s a senior.”

   “Wong has an injury that he is just coming back from and as the BIIF runner up from last season we have high hopes for him,” Coach Mandaquit said. 

BIIF Wrestlers Show Promise at Maui Invitational

Kamehameha's Megan Aina wins gold at 103

For four decades the Maui Invitational Wrestling Tournament has been the testing grounds for up and coming prep athletes wishing to hone their skills and this past weekend Kamehameha’s Megan Aina made her mark.

Aina, the defending Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion at 98 pounds, moved up a weight class to 103 and took on some of the states best.

 “I had three matches and I won my first two by pin,” Aina said.  “I used a head snap to get them off balance in the pins which helped me make it into the finals.”

In the finals Aina went against Pac 5 wrestler, Chloe Nagasawa, and won on points, 15-1.  “I got most of my points for attempting to pin her on three separate occasions,” Aina said.  “She avoided the pin by using bridges.”

After winning the BIIF championships last year at 98 pounds Aina is now faced with figuring out which weight class to compete in as her current weigh is 100 pounds.

“This year I need to decide whether to go with 98 or up to 103 and I’ve been debating the pros and cons,” she said.

 “Kamehameha took ten wrestlers to Maui, five boys and five girls,” Warrior coach, Marlon Miller said.  “We took some of our more experienced wrestlers to Maui as the cost of travel is expensive and we weren’t able to take everyone.”

Three of Miller’s wrestlers made it into the finals at Maui with Nalu Kekona Souza, 120 lbs., and Kaopua Sutton, 220, taking second place, and Aina, a sophomore, taking top honors.

Aina with coach, Marlon Miller….photo’s by Charles Aina

Kamehameha expected senior Kaopua Sutton to compete in the 175 weight class, but Sutton missed weight by three tenths of a pound and was forced to compete in the heavier division.

“We thought Kaopua had a good chance to win at 175, but at weigh ins she was at 175.3 and needed to be bumped up into the higher weight division,” Miller said.

“We have a very young team this year with fifty percent of our squad being first year wrestlers.  I’m excited to see how they’ll do this year and I’ve noticed that they are very eager to learn,” Miller said.

Twenty seven schools were represented at the Maui Invitational which brought in a total of 289 wrestlers.

Kamehameha-Big Island had the highest team finish of any BIIF girl’s teams, placing third overall with only five competitors.

Other BIIF girls making it into the finals were:

Kealakehe’s Jodi Ozaki won the 120 division beating out Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Marie Donahue in the finals.

Konawaena’s Alexandra Aoki (108) and teammate Danielle Hubbard (114) both made it into the finals and took the runner-up spots in the tournament.

For the boys Honokaa’s Geo Chavez-Pardini (160) and Kona’s Jimmy Romualdo (135) captured tournament titles.

Chavez-Pardini is only a junior and is a two time BIIF champion who won the title as a freshman in the 140 class, as a sophomore in the 152 bracket and now is competing at 160.

During the two day tournament on Maui Chavez-Pardini had three matches winning all by pin.  “I won my first match in the second round with a chicken wing, half-nelson,” Chavez-Pardini said.  “My second match lasted 20 something seconds and I won it using a cradle with a leg.”

In the championship round Chavez-Pardini went against Eric Roth of Mililani and managed to pin his opponent in the first round using a cradle move.

“I think we (Honokaa) have a pretty strong team this year that can compete well in the heavy and lighter weight division,” he said. 

Chavez-Pardini stumbled upon wrestling in his freshman year when he tore his rotator cuff prior to the football season.  “I was out the entire freshman football season and decided to try wrestling during the off season,” Chavez-Pardini said.  “It was a fluke that I happened to find something that I’m good at and now my entire focus is on doing well at wrestling.”

Second place medals were awarded to Hilo’s Wong Ly (140), Kealakehe’s Ralph Ortega (108) and Dillon Cortes (130) along with Honokaa’s Preston Cawagas (171).

Honokaa led the BIIF boy’s teams finishing 8^th overall.  “We took 12 boys in seven weight divisions and I thought we did really well on Maui,” Dragon coach, Dan Whetstone said.

“Our team exceeded my expectations and they could be one of the best teams in the BIIF, if not the best,” Whetstone said.

Eight BIIF schools made the journey to the Valley Island to go against some of the best grapplers in the state.

Lahainaluna won the boys overall team title and Punahou captured the girl’s crown.

Coach Marlon Miller of Kamehameha recorded all the BIIF wrestlers that made the finals during the Maui Tournament.