The Crusaders' junior and Warriors' sophomore kept their string of consecutive state wrestling championships alive over the weekend. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Male Athlete of the Week: Corey Cabanban, Saint Louis wrestling
Corey Cabanban's goal of going esteemed company is still alive.

The Saint Louis junior won his third consecutive individual title at last weekend's Chevron/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships in his third different weight class.

Cabanban capped off his second straight undefeated season with a 120-pound crown after winning four matches over the two-day tournament.

"To be honest, after winning two and now a third — I don't want to say it was expected — but he's just head and shoulders above everybody," Crusaders coach Al Chee said.

Cabanban opened the tournament Friday with a pin of Farrington's Dylan Olson just 49 seconds into their first-round bout and advanced to Saturday morning's semifinal round with a 2-0 quarterfinal win over Mililani's Casey Nitta.

Despite the score Chee said Cabanban was firmly in control of the match.

"I think in that quarterfinal match, the young man that Corey wrestled had a game plan to play a lot of defense and I think he pretty much executed his game plan, but certainly Corey did enough to win," Chee said. "To me, the match wasn't as close as the score indicated, but the thing about Corey and most accomplished wrestlers is that it's not so much that they score, but they don't let their opponents score."

Cabanban, the top seed in the weight class, posted a second-round pin of Kapolei's Jayson Pagurayan in the semifinals before fending off upset-minded Logan Garcia of Moanalua, 7-2, in the championship final.

"His confidence level is really high and really it's his cool and calm demeanor that stands out the most," Chee said of Cabanban. "He doesn't get really excited before his matches, or in his matches, and he's very even-keeled."

Chee, who coached Kamehameha to back-to-back team titles in 1997 and 1998, said Cabanban has a special combination of attributes that makes him successful.

"He works out extremely hard," Chee said. "His work ethic is very rarely matched. In all my years of coaching, I've seen very few athletes more dedicated to their craft than Corey. He's very gifted naturally, but he also trains very hard."

That work ethic is a big reason for Cabanban's self-confidence, Chee said.

"It's not arrogance — he's actually very humble and very quiet — but he's very sure of himself and I think that's probably one of the many good qualities that he possesses that makes him successful," Chee said. "He's always been very calm and that calmness probably emanates from his confidence."

Cabanban's only loss in his prep career came as a freshman more than two seasons ago in a preseason tournament.

He rebounded to beat that same wrestler twice that year, on his way to a 106-pound state title. The following season he moved up a weight class to 113, but the result was the same.

"He is really quick in his movements, his anticipations and his reactions — he's just lightning fast — and that's not something you can really coach," Chee said. "He doesn't necessarily do a lot of things, but the good ones don't always have a huge arsenal of moves; they just do a few really, really well."

Chee said Cabanban's goal since joining the varsity team has been to win four individual state titles — a feat achieved by only three other boys in the 51-year history of the state tournament.

"The idea of winning four has always been something on his mind. It's propelled Corey, but he understands something very simple, which is he's got to win the first one, then he's got to repeat, then he's got to win a third one because if he loses along the way his chance of four is gone, so I think he's done a good job of taking all of his matches very seriously," Chee said. "He's very methodical in his preparation and he never takes anybody lightly. The kid loves competing and the challenge of going out there and doing his thing."

Chee credited Cabanban's club wrestling coach, Daryl Terukina, for equipping him with a solid fundamental base.

"I'm not going to take a lot of the credit for the success that Corey has had," Chee said. "All we've done is sort of just tuned him to the competition. We're very fortunate as a coaching staff to have someone like Corey walk into our wrestling room with his skills and natural abilities."

The Terukina name is synonymous with winning. The family has combined for 12 individual state championships — including two more this year with Kamehameha freshman, Kysen, winning at 113 pounds and Campbell sophomore Zayren claiming the 132 crown — but none has the distinction of four titles.

"I think Corey looks at the Terukina family and says, ‘I'd like to top that,' not in an arrogant way, but I think he's driven to four, in a way, not to show them up, but to honor them for the time they've put into him," Chee said.

Female Athlete of the Week: Ashley Gooman, Kamehameha wrestling
One preseason loss was all the motivation Ashley Gooman needed this year

The loss back in December proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Kamehameha sophomore wrestler, who captured her second individual state championship over the weekend.

Gooman went 4-0 in the girls' 107-pound division, including a 7-2 win over reigning weight class champion Iverly Navarro of Lahainaluna in a highly-anticipated finals round matchup.

"I wasn't surprised by the outcome, but I think what was a surprise was the dominance of it," Warriors coach Rob Hesia said. "The Lahaina girl is tough, but the way Ashley controlled the match, she really put a statement out there."

After winning as a freshman at 102 pounds last year, Gooman moved up a weight class this season. However, she wrestled up a weight class at 112 in the Hawaii Wrestling Officials Association Scholarship Tournament in the preseason when she lost to Navarro's Lahainaluna teammate Alexis Encinas, which quickly lit a fire under Gooman once again.

"I don't think I've seen her lose before," said Hesia, who was Gooman's intermediate coach prior to taking over as varsity coach this season. "It was her first loss in at least three years. She took the loss hard, but she got back to work on Monday and was ready to go. She took that loss and turned it around and used it for a positive."

Hesia said instead of letting the defeat bring her down, Gooman used it as a learning lesson and made the best of it.

"She have the girls and boys combined as far as practice this season and so she's practicing with the 106-pound boys and she came to practice seeking out the hardest opponents she could to better herself," Hesia said. "She wanted partners that will push her."

Gooman did just that. Among her regular practice partners were freshmen Kysen Terukina, who went on to win the boys' 113-pound state title last weekend.

Encinas, meanwhile, ended up winning the girls' 112-pound crown at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Saturday night.

"I think her being a defending state champion provided a little bit of confidence, but it also provided some of that pressure that you probably saw earlier in the preseason," Hesia said. "Being a state champion she probably had a lot of expectations that should she be winning everything, but to me losses are opportunities to grow and for her to suffer that loss — while it was devastating for her — it allowed her to grow and she's always had that mindset of being a competitor and not want to lose anything."

Gooman won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title two weeks ago, but was seeded second behind Navarro in the state bracket.

She finished each of her first three state tournament bouts by pin — only her quarterfinal victory over Hawai Baptist's Kaitlyn Ito going past the first round — to set-up the finals showdown against Navarro, the Lunas' senior.

"Going into her finals match I was confidence because she was confident," Hesia said. "She was in her own zone, doing her own thing. She seemed excited and she seemed happy to be out there wrestling. I didn't get any type of a feeling of pressure or anything like that; she was just ready to perform and let all the hard work show."

Gooman had to rally from an early deficit against Navarro, who capitalized on a ill-timed double-leg shot by Gooman off the opening whistle.

"She came out aggressive and took a shot and maybe it was rushed a little and she didn't set it up as well as she should have, but when I look back at the match, there wasn't any sense of panic or anything from her," Hesia said. "I thought that showed the confidence in her going into the match because she did start behind, took that shot and got scored on, but she was able to shake it off relatively easy and continued to work."

About 30 seconds later, Gooman got a reversal to tie it at 2 after the first period. She started the second period from the down position, but took the lead for good with another reversal just 10 seconds in. After a stalling penalty against Navarro stretched Gooman's lead to 5-2 to start the third period, she further extended it to 7-2 with a takedown six seconds into the final stanza and rode out Navarro for the rest of the match.

"Navarro is a great wrestler and I think she did a great job, but I don't think Ashley gave her many opportunities," Hesia said. "I liked the way she was working and she kept Navarro on the defensively working from one move to the next move to the next move. It was a very impressive performance. The only way to beat an opponent like Navarro is to be spot on and relentless."

Off the mat, Hesia — who is the senior-class vice principal at the Kapalama Heights campus — says Gooman is the ideal of a student-athlete.

"She has a cumulative 4.0 GPA," Hesia said. "She is super smart, has a good heart, a good attitude and gets along well with everyone. She brings a good vibe into the room and has that right mixture of competitiveness and also positivity. I'm just happy she chose wrestling because she's one of those people that just excels at pretty much anything she does."

BOYS BASKETBALL
Kesi Ah-Hoy, Kahuku — Scored 17 points in a win over Kalaheo

Austin Aukai, Konawaena — Scored 25 points in a win over Kailua

Samuta Avea, Kahuku — Scored 20 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Punahou

Trey Boatwright, Leilehua — Scored 17 points with 14 rebounds in a win over Kapolei, scored 10 points with 10 rebounds in a win over Konawaena

Zayne Chong, Punahou — Scored 21 points in a win over Lahainaluna

Duke Clemens, Punahou — Scored 10 points with 12 rebounds in a win over Konawaena

RJ Dominguez, Moanalua — Scored 17 points in a loss to Iolani

Austin Ewing, Konawaena — Scored 17 points in a win over Kailua

Kevin Falk, Honokaa — Scored 18 points in a loss to Saint Francis

Liam Fitzgerald, Leilehua — Scored 18 points in a win over Konawaena

Daniel Fotu, Kahuku — Scored 18 points in a win over Kalaheo

Hugh Hogland, Iolani — Scored 17 points with 11 rebounds in a win over Moanalua, scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and seven blocks in a loss to Kahuku and scored 18 points in a loss to Lahainaluna

Bryce Johnson-Cormack, Kauai — Scored 19 points in a loss to Honokaa and scored 18 points in a loss to Farrington

Jerry Lawson, Le Jardin — Scored 25 points in a win over Hawaii Prep and scored 24 points in a win over Farrington

Carver Locke, Lahainaluna — Scored 16 points in a loss to Punahou and scored 18 points in a win over Iolani

CJ Liana, Farrington — Scored 18 points in a win over Kauai

Christian Manera, Kauai — Scored 18 points in a loss to Farrington

Calvin Mattos, Waiakea — Scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a loss to Kalaheo

Reymar Morales, Farrington — Scored 18 points in a win over Kauai

Kameron Ng, Saint Francis — Scored 23 points in a win over Farrington, scored 24 points in a win over Honokaa and scored 16 points in a win over Kalani

Ryan Pardini, Kalaheo — Scored 22 points in a win over Maui, scored 20 points in a win over Waiakea

Jerek Prudencio, Waiakea — Scored 18 points in a loss to Kalaheo

Zeke Santiago, Farrington — Scored 24 points in a win over Kauai and scored 21 points in a loss to Le Jardin

Trey Sumida, Kalani — Scored 17 points in a win over Seabury Hall

Kamuela Spencer-Herring, Honokaa — Scored 20 points in a win over Kauai

Everett Torres-Kahapea, Kailua — Scored 21 points in a loss to Konawaena

Dominic Venezia, Le Jardin — Scored 12 points with 10 rebounds in a loss to Kalani, scored 14 points with 12 rebounds in a win over Hawaii Prep and scored 20 points with 19 rebounds in a win over Farrington

Jessiya Villa, Kahuku — Scored 23 points in a win over Punahou

Boris Vukovic, Saint Francis — Scored 13 points with 11 rebounds in a win over Kalani

Captain Whitlock, Kalaheo — Scored 24 points in a win over Maui, scored 18 points in a win over Waiakea and scored 17 points in a win over Leilehua

WRESTLING
Teniya Alo, Kahuku — Won the girls' 132-pound division for her second individual state championship

Kelani Corbett, Leilehua — Won the girls' 155-pound division for her second individual state championship

Alexis Encinas, Lahainaluna — Won the girls' 112-pound division for her second individual state championship

Brian Pascua, Iolani — Won the boys' 170-pound division for his second individual state championship

Angela Peralta, Radford — Won the girls' 145-pound division for her second individual state championship

Triston Santos, Campbell — Won the boys' 126-pound division for his second individual state championship

Micah Tynanes-Perez, Campbell — Won the boys' 220-pound division for his second individual state championship

Dane Yamashiro, Iolani — Won the boys' 285-pound division for his second individual state championship