Waianae boys win first title since 1986; Pearl City girls defend crown


Waianae's Zhachary Carriero lifts Waipahu's Kaimiaina Tampos during the boys 147-pound final. Sylvia Lee | SL

WAHIAWA – Waianae's boys captured their first Oahu Interscholastic Association wrestling title in 31 years, edging four-time defending champion Campbell, 162-155, Saturday night at Leilehua.

"I have no words," Waianae's 140-pound champion Ke'ale Keliinoi said. "I'm just thankful. To God, my teammates, all my friends. Everyone. Coming in, we were ready. We all knew what we had to go for."

Pearl City successfully defended the girls' crown with 190 points. It was the Chargers' fifth overall title.

"I thought it was going to be close because we were trailing yesterday," Pearl City's three-time champion Mikayla Abe said. "We've been trying to be more of a unified team, so i think this will really help us."

The night was special for some individuals.

Radford's Angela Peralta won her fourth consecutive individual title, pinning Waianae's Kaleinani Makuaole in 53 seconds in the 147-pound class.

"It feels pretty good," Peralta said. "It's my last year of high school, so it's kind of bittersweet."

Peralta admitted feeling some butterflies because she was going for a rare feat..

"I didn't want to lose the four-time thing," she said. "I was pretty nervous. I didn't want to mess up."

Pearl City's Abe edged Kaiser's Hanna Kannys, 3-2, to win her third title in the 124-pound class.

"It was all mental," Abe said. "I felt confident in myself, my abilities to go further. My teammates watching on the side. Seeing them made me work harder."

Kahuku's Teniya Alo became a two-league champion when she beat Kaiser's Roselani Ikei, 11-5, in the 134-pound class. The transfer from Iolani was Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion in the 122-pound last season.

"Feels good, especially coming off of two (shoulder) surguries, being able to come back and redeem myself and feels better to get back into wrestling mode," said Alo, younger sister of four-time state champion Teysha Alo of Kamehameha. 

On the boys' side, meanwhile, Moanalua's Logan Garcia pinned Kapolei's Jayson Pagurayan at 5:47 to win the 122-pound class and denyi his opponent from a coveted fourth title. It was the junior's second title.

"Really, I went out there to have some fun because wrestling's always fun," Garcia said of the pressure of facing someone going for a fourth title. "I saw that (Pagurayan) injured his ankle, so I thought, just move more."

One of the biggest matches for Waianae was when Keliinoi beat Campbell's Steven Pangelinan, 15-7, for the 140-pound title. It was the only title match that pitted individuals from the top two contending teams.

"I just had to focus," Keliinoi said. "I just knew we had to get something done and I had to do it."

Waianae had only two individual champions. Joining Keliinoi was Zhachary Carreiro in 147. But what help bolster the Seariders was landing eight wrestlers out of the 14 weight classes into the semifinals. Waianae had five third-place finishers.

Runner-up Campbell had three repeat champions in Triston Ramos (128), Zayren Terukina (134) and Micah Tyananes-Perez (222), who pinned his opponent in 1:23.

The Chargers led the girls side with three individual champions. Joining Abe were Michelle Tanuvasa (170) and Jennie Fuamatu (186). Pearl City had 10 semifinalists.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].