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St. Louis survived a tight three-team battle to retain the boys state wrestling title last night in the finals of the Data House State Wrestling Championships at Blaisdell Arena. St. Louis keeps its grip on title
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Interscholastic League of Honolulu swept the top four places in the meet, led by St. Louis' 154.5-point performance. Kamehameha came in second with 144 points, followed by Iolani at 143. Punahou finished fourth with 111.5 points.
"It feels even better this year, because it was so tight every week," St. Louis coach Todd Los Banos said. "Last year, I knew we had a great team, but this team accomplished even more because they went undefeated this season.
"It's a tough fight every week."
St. Louis sealed its second consecutive team championship when three-time state champion Jonathan Spiker pinned Punahou's Kevin Takasaki to win the 145-pound division and Kai Kwon beat Baldwin's Spencer Chun 7-0 in the fifth-place match in the 171-pound class.
"It took all of them," Los Banos said of his team's effort. "It just happened to be (Kwon's) match and Jonathan's match that did it."
St. Louis entered the finals in first place with 136.5 points, with Kamehameha (135) and Iolani (130) just behind.
Hilo's Shane Rellez beat Waiakea's Mikhail Higa 3-1 in the 103-pound final in a battle of Big Island rivals.
St. Louis' Benn Willmore defeated Baldwin's Rowell Daquep in the 112-pound class 8-4, and Iolani got first-place points from Jared Wakayama (119 pounds) and Brent Kakesako (125).
Wakayama erased a 3-1 deficit to Waiakea's Nick Galloway with a two-point takedown to end the second period. He took the lead with an escape early in the third and went on to win 6-4 over the top seed.
Kakesako survived a bruising battle with McKinley's Emile Suehiro. Trailing 3-1 entering the final period, Kakesako got a point on an escape and scored with a reversal with about a minute left in the match to win 4-3.
Rene Suehiro earned a measure of revenge for his brother and McKinley by beating Iolani's Kyle Muraoka 6-3 in the 135-pound final.
Mililani helped St. Louis' cause as Justin Kawamata beat Iolani's Owen Yonehara 14-6 in the 130-pound final and Jaime Keehu defeated Kamehameha's Christian Kikuchi 12-3 for the 140-pound championship.
In the tightest match of the evening, Lahainaluna's Jeffery Lavita and Hilo's Alex Kalawe wrestled for seven minutes without a score. Lavita finally scored on a reversal in the second overtime and won 5-0.
Lahainaluna's Kainoa Casco won his second state title with a pin of Farrington's Paul Laga in the 160-pound match.
Robert Yamashita added to Iolani's total with a 14-5 victory over Waiakea's Marcus Busch in the 171-pound final.
Molokai's Justin Luafalemana scored the upset of the night by beating St. Louis' Prince Brown 3-2 for the 215-pound championship.
Waipahu's Maalele Uele won the 275-pound division with a 7-6 win over Lahainaluna's Charles Tang.
GIRLS
Kahuku dethroned three-time champion Moanalua to capture its first state girls championship with a final point tally of 151 points.
Moanalua, the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion, came away with three individual titles but finished second as a team with 116 points.
"It's awesome for these girls," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "They came out and wrestled hard and they wrestled aggressively. Last week (at the OIA championships) we were kind of timid, they wrestled not to lose. This week they wrestled to win."
Justine Swafford won the Red Raiders' lone individual championship when she pinned Punahou's Naomi Karlen 1:08 into the second period of the 98-pound final.
"It was the most incredible feeling in the world," said Swafford, a senior. "It's sweeter than winning the football championship. Women's wrestling hasn't been established yet, and I think after this it'll be established in our school."
Kawai Chee (103), Shanel Vivas (108), Elizabeth Torres (114) and Anela Iseke (155) posted runner-up finishes and Kehau Kamauoha finished third in the 140 class.
Moanalua's Caylene Valdez (108) and Stephany Lee (155) became 3-time champions by winning their divisions and Shani Alvarado won the 140 class for the Menehunes.
Nanakuli's Ashley Gaspar (175) and Kamehameha's Iwalani Fonoimoana (220) joined Valdez and Lee as three-time state champions. McKinley's Melissa Orden won her second title in the 103 division.
OIA schools have won all five girls state championships.
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