Boys 120

2020 State Championships

Coby Ravida is already among the best Baldwin wrestlers of all time, he just needs to add a third crown to share a spot with Leigh Tonai as the best.

Ravida can become just the second Baldwin wrestler with three state titles, joining Tonai in way back in 1975. He can leave Tonai behind in one measure, though, becoming the first Bear to have four state medals at home.

Ravida is already tied with Thomas Stevenson and many others, including Joe Miller, Ernie Wong, Carlton Okamoto and Bobby Morimoto, with three state medals. No Baldwin boy has ever won four, but the state only awarded four medals in Tonai’s day.

Quadrant 1

Ravida should have no problem in his first match, he has pinned his first opponent in all three of his state tournaments, but the second will be a test. He gets the winner between Leilehua’s Matthew Cook or Dayson Castillo of Hilo. If Ravida can finish his first opponent early, he may want to check out the end of the other first-round match in this quad. Punahou’s Oliver Nishigawa steps up against Branson Magsayo of Waianae, who won three matches at states last year including an upset of reigning state champ Elijah Asuncion of Moanalua. Magsayo nearly beat Asuncion for the OIA championship in a contentious match that ended in overtime. Nishigawa certainly can’t be overlooked, as he lost a narrow 4-2 match to Josiah Hokoana of Kamehameha to give up the ILH title and seeded berth that went with it. Magsayo has beaten everyone not named Asuncion this year, and done it quite handily except for a 9-7 win over Alan Sanchez of Lanai at the MIT.

Quadrant 2

BIIF champion Rylan Smith of Waiakea has the seeded berth here, and a pretty smooth path to the semifinals. He wrestled Asuncion to a tough 4-0 loss at Officials and is making his state debut. His opponent will be fresh off his first state match as Raffe Pereirra of Damien and Waipahu’s Kenichi Price face off in the one-and-done. Pereirra wrestled Hokoano tough in the ILH semifinals, losing 6-2, but got pinned in the first period by Magsayo at Officials. Price didn’t fare much better against the common opponent, losing to Magsayo 19-7 at the OIAs. The other match in this quarter might be one of the most interesting. KIF champion Mason Stoll-Tolentino, who is bidding to become his school’s second state placer all time along with Madison Leanio, is in his fourth state tournament and still looking for his first win on the mat. He won his first match by default last year, then forfeited the rest of the way to go with a forfeit he had after losing his first match as a freshman, giving him six losses, half of them without taking the mat. In his way is Kalani’s Ramos Suzuki, who lost both of his matches in his state debut last year but almost took Magsayo the distance at the OIA championships.

Quadrant 3

No matter what, either Altabert Debrum of Kapolei or Pearl City’s Micah Ongies-Vellalos are going to taste victory at states for the first time. The OIA rivals both lost in the play-in matches last year, and wrestle this time for the right to face Hokoana of Kamehameha. They have a common opponent in Magsayo, as they both wrestled him at the OIA West championships with DeBrum losing 18-3 and Ongies-Vellalos falling 9-2. Hokoana toughed his was through two close decisions to win the ILH title, so he is battle hardened going into the big show. Lanai’s Sanchez has had a disappointing season with multiple losses to Ravida and Magsayo so far, but turns it up at the state tournament with eight wins in his career and has a third and fourth place to speak of. He already has more state medals than any Pine Lad in history. Sanchez will take on Konawaena’s Landyn Koen, who is at states for the first time.

Quadrant 4

Asuncion of Moanalua is back where he belongs as the seeded OIA champion, he has won 11 matches in his state career capped off by his 2018 title. He can join former teammate Antonio Ruiz as the second Na Menehune to haul in four state medals. He is not a guy you want to wrestle in the first round, as he has pinned all three of his initial opponents in his career, but the winner between Ethan Okumura of Kaiser and Maryknoll’s Breyson Chang. Asuncion beat Okumura 12-2 at the OIA East championships and hasn’t faced Chang in a major tournament but needs to be careful of the Spartan. Chang pinned Hokoana of Kamehameha at Officials but didn’t face him in the championships because of a close loss to Nishigawa.

———-

FIRST PLACE

(1) Coby Ravida, Baldwin vs. (2) Elijah Asuncion, Moanalua
— Ravida, Dec 2-0

Notes: Ravida (106) and Asuncion (113) both won state titles two years ago … Ravida won a second at 113 last year … they wrestle to a stalemate after two periods … Ravida with the escape in the third as Asuncion looks like he let him up … Ravida up 1-0 … Ravida is given a point with 49 seconds to go, missed what it was for … Asuncion has 19 seconds to take him down and can’t do it. Third state title for Ravida, 2-0. Asuncion almost had him.

THIRD PLACE

(4) Rylan Smith, Waiakea vs. Branson Magsayo, Waianae
— Magsayo, fall 2:31

FIFTH PLACE

(3) Josaiah Hokoana, Kamehameha vs. Alan Sanchez Jr., Lanai
— Sanchez Jr., Dec 5-2

———-

SEMIFINALS

(1) Coby Ravida, Baldwin vs. (4) Rylan Smith, Waiakea
— Ravida, fall 3:35
(2) Elijah Asuncion, Moanalua vs. Alan Sanchez Jr., Lanai
— Asuncion, Dec 11-5

QUARTERFINALS

(1) Coby Ravida, Baldwin vs. Branson Magsayo, Waianae
— Ravida, Maj 14-4
(4) Rylan Smith, Waiakea vs. Mason Stoll-Tolentino, Kauai
— Smith, TF 20-3
(3) Josaiah Hokoana, Kamehameha vs. Alan Sanchez Jr., Lanai
— Sanchez Jr., Dec 7-5
(2) Elijah Asuncion, Moanalua vs. Ezekiel Matutuino, KS-Maui
— Asuncion, fall 3:47

PRELIMINARY

(1) Coby Ravida, Baldwin vs. Matthew Cook, Leilehua
— Ravida
Oliver Nishigawa, Punahou vs. Branson Magsayo, Waianae
— Magsayo
Mason Stoll-Tolentino, Kauai vs. Ramos Suzuki, Kalani
— Stoll-Tolentino
(4) Rylan Smith, Waiakea vs. Kenichi Price, Waipahu
— Smith
(3) Josaiah Hokoana, Kamehameha vs. Atalbert Debrum, Kapolei
— Hokoana
Landyn Koen, Konawaena vs. Alan Sanchez Jr., Lanai
— Sanchez Jr.
Carlos Masuko, KS-Hawaii vs. Ezekiel Matutuino, KS-Maui
— Matutuino
(2) Elijah Asuncion, Moanalua vs. Breyson Chang, Maryknoll
— Asuncion

CONSOLATION

Matthew Cook, Leilehua vs. Oliver Nishigawa, Punahou vs.
—
Ramos Suzuki, Kalani vs. Kenichi Price, Waipahu
—
Atalbert Debrum, Kapolei vs. Landyn Koen, Konawaena
—
Carlos Masuko, KS-Hawaii vs. Breyson Chang, Maryknoll

QUALIFYING

Matthew Cook, Leilehua vs. Dayson Castillo, Hilo
— Cook, fall 1:44
Raffe Pereirra, Damien vs. Kenichi Price, Waipahu
— Price, Dec 7-5
Atalbert Debrum, Kapolei vs. Micah Ongies-Vellalos, Pearl City
— Debrum, 2-OT, 2-1
Ethan Okumura, Kaiser vs. Breyson Chang, Maryknoll
— Chang, Maj 14-3