The Baldwin sophomore and Leilehua senior won their second individual crowns last week. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Female Athlete of the Week: Jahnea Miguel, Baldwin wrestling
Jahnea Miguel has learned to roll with the punches.

The Baldwin sophomore claimed her second individual title in as many seasons despite moving up three weight classes at last week's Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena.

Miguel went 4-0 over the two-day tournament to lay claim to the girls' 145-pound weight class and was one of two individual titlists for the Bears, who won their first team championship in the 21-year history of the girls' state tournament.

"She's happy, so I'm happy for her," Baldwin coach Malakai Panuve said. "She did her part. She wrestled pretty well and I guess she's satisfied with what she accomplished."

As a freshman last season, Miguel captured the 127-pound title before bumping up to 145 this year. Part of the rationale was to help the Bears with a potential run at the team title, but also to avoid Kahuku senior Teniya Alo, who won at 138 pounds last week for her third individual crown.

"They know each other very well as they've trained together since they were young, so they're very close," Panuve said. "I guess it benefitted both sides."

Panuve said Miguel's actual weight is 138 pounds, which left him with some worry.

"She decided on going to 145 right before the MIL championships, so she was only at that weight for about three weeks," he said. "With her moving up that many weight classes from last year, it was going to be a little more challenging because the girls are a little bigger and stronger. My only concern would be whether she could keep up with these stronger girls."

Miguel quickly put her coach's worries to bed.

"As a coach, of course you've got to assess things after every match; ‘How did you feel wrestling that girl? How did you feel after two matches? How did you feel at the end of the day?,' " Panuve said. "Of course, in the wrestling room you've got to throw her against little heavier guys so she can get the training, but she kind of surprised me that she was able to overcome that."

Miguel drew the No. 2 seed behind Castle's Sadie Antoque last week, which might have served as a motivating factor for her, Panuve said.

"Because of the short amount of time that she had in that weight class, (the seeding committee) was just following the protocol and they were following criteria, so you can't argue with the criteria," Panuve said. "It wasn't a big deal, but I'm pretty sure it motivated her when she looked at that. She probably thought, ‘I'm way better than that,' and I wouldn't be surprised if it gave her the motivational drive to prove to everybody that she's way better than number two."

Miguel made quick work of her first two opponents, pinning both Riley Walters of Konawaena and Iwi Kinimaka of Campbell in the first round. Her first-round bout against Walters lasted just 21 seconds, while her quarterfinal against Kinimaka went just 47 seconds.

Thursday morning's semifinal round saw Miguel advance with a second-round pin of Waianae's Kaleinani Makuaole to set-up a finals showdown against Antoque.

Miguel held on for a 7-3 decision over Antoque in the first of 28 championship finals Thursday afternoon.

"That kind of created the momentum for all the other girls. Just for her to get in there and start the pace was really good and it kind of helped the rest of the team out," Panuve said.

Later in the finals round, another Baldwin sophomore, Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp won the 127-pound weight class, which secured the team title for the Bears.

Panuve said Estrella-Beauchamp and Miguel fed off of each other throughout the season.

"They're practice partners. Waipuilani is a little lighter, but she manages to keep up with Jahnea," Panuve said. "They're both great workout partners and they both push each other."

The 11th-year coach was still coming down from cloud nine five days after Baldwin's triumph in Honolulu.

"It feels good. I mean, to keep it in simple terms, it feels really good," Panuve said. "It's never been accomplished since 1964, when the program first started, so it feels great. I'm happy, the coaches are happy, the wrestlers are happy and the whole community is happy."

Male Athlete of the Week: Brett Barefoot, Leilehua wrestling
Brett Barefoot made the most of his swan song last week.

Not only did the senior successfully defend his individual crown at last week's Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships, he led Leilehua to its second team team title and first since 1995.

Barefoot captured his second straight championship at 182 pounds in convincing fashion, registering pins in all four of his state tournament matches.

"He actually owned the tournament this year," Mules coach Kevin Corbett said. "He did really well. I was really impressed. He's wrestled really well all year."

Barefoot was the No. 1 seed in the 16-man bracket and proved his worth over the course of the two-day tournament at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena. He opened the meet Wednesday with a second-period pin of Mililani's Kurvon Battle before dispatching Baldwin's Frank Galios just 49 seconds into their quarterfinal-round bout.

In the semifinals Thursday morning, Barefoot defeated Nanakuli's Charles Naone with a pin late in the third period to secure his place in the afternoon's championship final.

Barefoot quickly took care of business in the title match, pinning Vance Keliihoomalu of Kapolei just 43 seconds into the bout.

"He's not like the normal wrestler whose technique is textbook; he kind of does his own thing," Corbett said. "I mean, he knows the technique and he uses it, but just because of his athletic ability and the way he's built, he just kind of does some crazy stuff and it just kind of amazes me. Where with other kids I might be yelling and screaming at them, but for him it works because he's so strong and lanky, but he's also matured so much where before he would panic a little bit, but now he's just so relaxed, so he's matured quite a bit over the course of the year."

Of Leilehua's four boys that reached the championship matches of their respective weight classes, Barefoot was the only one to win.

"He was definitely the leader and it was important because other than him, we didn't win another one," Corbett said. "He was the only one who pulled through."

The Mules were neck and neck with Kamehameha for much of the tournament, but ended up winning the team title by a single point over the Warriors.

"It seemed like between us and Kamehameha, nobody wanted to win it. Both of us didn't do a lot of good things in the finals round, but if Brett didn't pull off his (win), the rest of the guys on the backside might have given up thinking we were out of it, but him pulling it off, knowing that we were still in it kind of kept them motivated," Corbett said.

Barefoot, a third-year varsity wrestler, went unbeaten this season. He has not lost a match in more than a year, since the Oahu Interscholastic Association individual championships his junior season.

Corbett said Barefoot's first state title last year only motivated him further to finish out on top this season.

"I told him last year after he won that it's easy winning the first one, (but) defending is the tough part because everybody is gunning for you," Corbett said. "Last year was when you saw things start to make sense for him. He started to take things a little more serious and understanding that he had to put the work in and this year has blossomed for him."

While the Mules will lose Barefoot to graduation this offseason, there is optimism for the future, Corbett said.

"It'll be sad to see him go; I will definitely miss him," Corbett said. "When I came up here three years ago, I told the seniors now to trust the work and we can get there and they did, and the work paid off. Hopefully this will be the catalyst and this won't be a one and done, hopefully. We lose five seniors off the boys; team, but we'll still have a good core coming back up and some young ones from middle school coming up, too."

BOYS BASKETBALL
Ja'Shon Carter, Kapolei — Scored 10 points with 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block in a win over Kamehameha-Maui

Sheltyn Carvalho, Honokaa — Scored 15 points with seven rebounds and six steals in a win over Seabury Hall

Caleb Casinas, Moanalua — Scored 21 points with nine rebounds and two steals in a loss to Punahou

Zayne Chong, Punahou — Scored 22 points with one rebound, three assists and four steals in a win over Moanalua

Brandon Chung, Kalani — Scored 10 points with 12 rebounds and a steal in a loss to Damien

CJ Cromartie, Kauai — Scored 19 points with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal in a win over Hawaii Prep

Hunter Hosoda, Punahou — Scored 18 points with two rebounds and two steals in a win over Lahainaluna

Conner Jenkins, Seabury Hall — Scored 21 points with 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in a loss to Honokaa

Samuel Kahapea, Kamehameha-Hawaii — Scored 19 points with six rebounds, two blocks and an assist in a loss to Kahuku, scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and one assist in a loss to Kapolei

Aukai Kama, Lahainaluna — Scored 13 points with 11 rebounds and two assists in a win over Kapolei

Kama Konohia, Seabury Hall — Scored 17 points with four rebounds, two assists and a steal in a loss to Damien

DeAeris McRaven, Moanalua — Scored 17 points with nine rebounds and two blocks in a win over Kalaheo

Zoar Nedd, Kapolei — Scored 17 points with 10 rebounds, five assists and a block in a win over Kamehameha-Maui, scored 17 points with 12 rebounds, three assists, two steal and a block in a  loss to Maryknoll, scored 26 points with eight rebounds, six steals, four assists and one block in a win over Kamehameha-Hawaii and scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, three assists and a block in a loss to Lahainaluna

Kameron Ng, Saint Francis — Scored 38 points with five assists, three rebounds and two steals in a win over Roosevelt, scored 21 points with three rebounds, three assists and a steal in a win over Kauai and scored 29 points with four assists, two rebounds and one steal in a win over Damien

Geremy Robinson, Moanalua — Scored 20 points with six rebounds and three assists in a win over Kalaheo, scored 18 points with two assists, two steals and a rebound in a loss to Punahou

Tolu Smith, Kahuku — Scored 20 points with 10 rebounds, two steals, one assist and a block in a win over Kailua, scored 17 points with eight rebounds, two steals and a block in a win over Kamehameha-Hawaii, scored 17 points with seven rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists in a win over Maryknoll and scored 23 points with 14 rebounds, five blocks and one assist in a loss to Punahou

Kamuela Spencer-Herring, Honokaa — Scored 11 points with 11 rebounds, there steals, one assist and a block in a win over Seabury Hall and scored 19 points with seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist in a loss to Roosevelt

Marcus Tobin, Maryknoll — Scored 14 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks in a win over Kapolei

Micah Visoria, Roosevelt — Scored 22 points with six rebounds, three assists and a steal in a loss to Saint Francis

Boris Vukovic, Saint Francis — Scored 19 points with 17 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in a win over Kauai

Kelsen-Jaye Walker, Hawaii Prep — Scored 18 points with three rebounds, one assist and a steal in a loss to Roosevelt

BOYS SOCCER
Yo Bostick, Honokaa — Scored two goals in a win over Waipahu

Jordan Elliott, Kalaheo — Scored two goals in a win over Honokaa

Joshua Layaoen, Kapaa — Scored three goals in a win over Waipahu

Alexander Liu, Iolani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kalani

Cole Motooka, Iolani — Scored two goals in a win over Moanalua

Lincoln Oishi, Iolani — Scored the lone goal in a win over Kapolei

Jake Schneider, Hawaii Prep — Scored two goals in a win over King Kekaulike

Daniel Souza, Baldwin — Scored one goal and assisted on two others in a win over Punahou

Aiden Spagnoli, PAC-5 — Scored two goals in a win over Seabury Hall and scored two goals in a win over McKinley

Coe Trevorrow, PAC-5 — Scored two goals in a win over McKinley

WRESTLING
Teniya Alo, Kahuku — Won the girls' 138 weight class for her third individual state championship

Corey Cabanban, Saint Louis — Won the boys' 126 weight class for his fourth individual state championship

Kelani Corbett, Leilehua — Won the girls' 155-pound weight class for her third individual state championship

Nanea Estrella, Lahainaluna — Won the girls' 122-pound weight class for her second individual state championship

Macy Higa, Roosevelt — Won the girls' 117-pound weight class for her second individual state championship

Ira Navarro, Lahainaluna — Won the girls' 102-pound weight class for her second individual state championship

Kysen Terukina, Kamehameha — Won the boys' 120-pound weight class for his second individual state championship

Zayren Terukina, Campbell — Won the boys' 145-pound weight class for his second individual state championship