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3 Hawaii boxers win at U.S. Championships

Richard Pelen Jr. of Waianae pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the Everlast U.S. Championships at Colorado Springs, Colo., yesterday, beating Wahid Rahim of Philadelphia 10-9 in the 125-pound preliminaries.

Pelen began the match trying for head shots, but adjusted when his corner saw Rahim's speed. Pelen went straight for the body in the final three rounds of the four-round fight and pulled off the upset.

"He had to go to the body," Bruce Kawano said. "The head moves, but the body doesn't move. He really stepped it up, but has an even tougher fight tomorrow."

Pelen was the 13th seed in the tournament, which determines the rest of the field for the Olympic trials. Rahim was the second seed. Pelen moves on to face top-seeded national Junior Olympic champion Matt Remillard of Manchester, Conn., today.

Also winning for team Hawaii were 132-pound Van Oscar Penovaroff of Waianae and Christopher Downs of Schofield Barracks, who only has six bouts to his credit and was sick. Penovaroff beat Mahlon Kerwick of Fort Carson, Colo., 14-12 and will face Troy Harden of Melbourne, Fla., today. Downs came in seeded 13th at 178 pounds and edged hometown boy Marice Louishomme of Colorado Springs, Colo., 15-14. He will take on Marcus Johnson of Killeen, Texas, today.

Ryan Bolen of Honolulu, Tinei Sua of Kahilu, Jeffrey Pelen Jr. of Waianae and Adam Rodriguez of Pearl City lost their bouts, but Kawano believes that Rodriguez, who is still in high school, impressed enough people in a 27-5 loss to earn a scholarship to Northern Michigan, the same school that turned out Brian Viloria and Samson Guillermo.

Hawaii's three winners move to the quarterfinal round today. They must make the finals to earn a spot in the Olympic Trials.

Hawaii voted second in WAC softball poll

The Rainbow Wahine softball team was picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference. Fresno State was the coaches' preseason choice to win the 2004 WAC crown. The Bulldogs also swept the preseason player honors with Christina Clark chosen the Player of the Year and Jamie Southern picked as Pitcher of the Year.

Outfielder Tracie Uchima and third baseman April Crowell were named to the preseason All-WAC team.

The Bulldogs barely edged the Wahine, the defending WAC champions, in a tight vote. Fresno State received four first-place votes and 34 points in the poll, while Hawaii received two votes for first and 33 points. Hawaii began practice on Monday.

Pro Bowl holds youth clinics

The Hawaii Tourism Authority and the NFL will conduct Pro Bowl youth clinics from Jan. 31 to Feb. 7. The clinics are open to boys and girls ages 11-18 and will be held all over the state. NFL cheerleaders will also hold two cheerleading clinics.

For more information go to www.hawaii.gov/tourism.

Raquetball tournament begins today

The first Ladies Pro/Am raquetball tournament starts today and runs through Sunday at the Honolulu Club. The tournament, sponsored by the Hawaii Athletic Racquetball Association, will have a $34,000 purse. It is the largest prize of any pro-women's raquetball tournament in the country.

For more information or to register for the tournament, go to www.hawaiiracquetball.org.

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in the [ Scoreboard ] section.