After nearly 8 hours of all-out tussling and bodyslams, Punahou emerged yesterday evening as the kings of the boys Interscholastic League of Honolulu wrestling.

The Punahou boys put on an electrifying show in the finals, exciting hundreds of fans at Punahou's Christopher Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

Punahou won the boys ILH championship team title with 240.5 points and took individual titles in six weight classes. Kamehameha finished second with 207 points and had four individual winners.

“;We worked extremely hard this past week. We worked on correcting technical issues and preparing ourselves mentally,”; said Punahou coach Matt Oney in explaining how he was able to instill winning back into the minds of his wrestlers. They suffered their first defeat of the regular season last week to Kamehameha during the final league dual tournament.

“;Most of all, I told them that we have opportunities in front of us that we need to take advantage of,”; Oney said.

Jordan Ng (114 pounds), Todd Murakawa (125 pounds), Galen McCleary (140 pounds), Zack Hernandez (152 pounds), Patrick Sheehan (171 pounds) and Jonathan Fuimaono (285 pounds) won individual titles for Punahou.

The Punahou girls captured six individual titles, but failed to garner the team title. That honor went to Kamehameha with a narrow 182.5 to 179 win.

Punahou's Erin Uehara started things off in the championship round, winning a thrilling 10-5 overtime match in the 98-pound girls division. It set the tone for an evening of competitive matches.

“;This was a tough match for me,”; Uehara said. “;In overtime I was able to get a takedown and then three near-takedown points. I worked very hard for it. I realized that the season is ending so I fought as hard as I could.”;

The sister combination of Chrissy Chow (125 pounds) and Mindy Chow (130 pounds) also came through for Punahou. Both easily won their respective matches with pins.

“;I'm happy that both of us won,”; said Chrissy Chow. “;We are very close and it helps to have someone that close to me who I can practice my wrestling moves on. We have lots of fun together wrestling as we grow up.”;

Mindy Chow echoes those same thoughts.

“;I like having someone at home whom I can practice with all of the time,”; said Mindy Chow, who is two years younger.

Other individual winners for Punahou were Kaye Tiara (140 pounds), Kaimana Lundquist (155 pounds) and Kanoe Kageyama (175 pounds).

Kamehameha girls coach Brandon Shimabukuro explained that his team won because the Warriors captured more matches through pins and large margins of victory in the consolation matches than Punahou.

Macy Yonamine won the 103-pound girls division by way of a pinfall for Kamehameha. Teammate Bree Rapoza captured the 108-pound individual title. Eden Fisher secured the girls team title for the Warriors with a final-match victory in the 220-pound division.

Next up for the Punahou and Kamehameha wrestlers is the state championships, which will be held Friday and Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena.

“;I am sure Kamehameha will want to attack us strong at states,”; Oney said.