Wrestling
Moanalua boys, Campbell girls claim HWOA team titles


 



WAHIAWA — The Moanalua boys and Campbell girls captured the team titles at the Hawaii Wrestling Officials Association Scholarship Tournament at Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium Saturday evening.

Na Menehune were without an individual titlists, but got points from seven place finishers to outpoint second-place Lahainaluna. Chevy Tabiolo-Felicilda (132 pounds), Zorich Palimoo (170) and Spencer Yahiki (195) led the way with runner-up finishes in their respective weight classes. Antonio Ruiz (126 pounds) and Clayton Smith (182) took third, Kulana Salera (152) fifth and Shon Aragon (113) sixth.

Moanalua had 162 1/2 points to Lahainaluna's 161. Kapolei finished third with 145 points, Punahou fourth with 127 1/2 and defending state champion Pearl City was fifth with 116 1/2 points.

Meanwhile, the Campbell girls placed a total of seven wrestlers, including four first-place finishers, to hold off reigning state champion Kamehameha, which finished second, and third-place Lahainaluna.

Kalissa Pundyke (102 pounds), Angela Peralta (145), Aaliyah Wright (155) and Caragh Morris (168) captured their individual weight classes, while Alicia Liemsithisak (127) and Lokelani Kam (145) added third-place finishes and Amber Strong (138) placed sixth for the Sabers.

Campbell amassed 146 points, 11 points ahead of Kamehameha and 18 points ahead of third-place finisher Lahainaluna. Waianae took fourth with 103 points and Punahou fifth with 76 1/2 points.

Amongst the individual winners Saturday was Kamehameha junior Blaysen Terukina, who defeated Iolani's Jordan Ng in the boys' 120-pound final by a score of 5-2.

Terukina, who placed third at 108 as a freshman and third at 113 last year, and Ng, a senior, have a storied past between them. The pair have faced off at least three times in the last year alone, with Terukina winning two of the meetings.

"Jordan is a tough competitor. We always go back and forth — he wins, I win — but I've been able to come out on top most times," Terukina said. "I enjoy wrestling him. He gets me better, I get him better."

Terukina opened the scoring just nine seconds into the first period with a take down on a low single shot to take an early 2-0 lead. Ng worked an escape about 10 seconds later, but Terukina extended his lead to 4-1 with another low single takedown and held a 4-1 lead after one period.

Ng began the second period from the bottom position and received a free escape from Terukina about halfway through the 2-minute period and trailed 4-2 to start the third.

Terukina, working from the bottom position, worked an escape about 35 seconds into the final period and held on for the 5-2 win.

"I'm happy," Terukina said. I put in a lot of work for this tournament and I hope to continue to win throughout the year and hopefully I take first in states."

Pundyke, who won the girls' 97-pound state crown as a freshman last year, made easy work of Lahainaluna sophomore Iverly Navarro in the 102-pound final Saturday.

Pundyke took a 2-0 lead about 27 seconds into the match with a take down and eventually put Navarro in a cradle before getting the pin with 58 seconds left in the first period.

"When I went on top of her — her base is really good — so I knew that I had to break her down and her leg was coming up, so I saw the opportunity for the cradle and I just ran it as best as I could," said Pundyke, who has yet to lose a match this year. "I knew that unlike a lot of the other wrestlers I had a lot to lose, so I had to just make sure that I was coming in focused and I always have to remember what I learned in practice and do things just as hard as I do in practice."

> Boys results and standings

> Girls results and standings


Note: The Aloha Wrestling Open, featuring four Division-I college programs, will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.

Minnesota, the nation's top-ranked program, will headline the event and will be joined by powerhouses Oklahoma and Oregon State. American University, which features former Mid-Pacific and Pac-Five standouts David and Joshua Terao in its starting lineup, is the final team in the tournament.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for children (ages 6 to 17) and can be purchased ahead of time at any high school wrestling tournament on Oahu or at any of the Oahu MWR ticket outlets at a discounted rate for military personnel. Tickets will also be available for purchase the day of the event. Matches will start at 10 a.m.

In addition to the competition, there will be a series of clinics conducted the coaches and wrestlers of the four teams at various sites across Oahu from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. There is a $25 fee to participate in each clinic, but a $75 all-clinic pass can be purchased on the first day. Participants must present a valid USA Wrestling card at the time of registration or can purchase one for $15.

All monies generated from the tournament and clinics will go toward subsidizing travel expenses for the collegiate programs.

For more information, e-mail: [email protected].



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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