Wrestling

Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Keith Laeha broke new ground for Hawaii wrestling on the national stagee recently. He was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association assistant coach of the year, the first time an honor has been bestowed upon someone from Hawaii. “Keith was recognized for his (more than) 40 years of service and dedication to the sport,” said Alfred Torres, a Radford wrestling coach who once coached Laeha at Kamehameha. “I’m very proud to say Keith is a former wrestler of mine.” […]

Kamehameha wrestling coaches Rob Hesia and Fallyn Kapoi were named Hawaii’s top girls coaches by the national wrestling organization recently. It is the first year the award has been given out. Hesia, the Kamehameha head coach, and Kamehameha-Hawaii assistant Keith Laeha were voted the region’s best boys coaches, the first time in the organization’s history that the top coaches in the region came from Hawaii. They are now eligible for sectional awards. The Warriors swept boys and girls state championships […]

Hawaii’s Tiare Ikei won the 53-kilogram (116-pound) gold medal at the 2019 U.S. Open Senior Women’s Championship in Las Vegas on Friday. It was Ikei’s first senior-level national tournament. She went undefeated with two tech falls and a pin en route to not only the gold, but also the honor of outstanding women’s wrestler of the tournament. She is a former Hawaii Technology Academy student and the 2018 112-pound state wrestling champion for the Kaiser Cougars. In the opener, Ikei […]

Kamehameha wrestling coach Rob Hesia has been named the coach of the year by the Hawaii Wrestling Coaches Association at the national body’s meeting in Pittsburgh. Hesia is the first Kamehameha coach so honored since Chris West in 2012-13. Hesia led the Warriors to state team titles for both the boys and the girls, the first sweep since Lahainaluna in 2015. Hesia helped Brant Porter and Kysen Terukina close the season with individual state crowns on the boys side and […]

The fourth set of national rankings in girls wrestling by USA Wrestling, FloWrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum for the 2018-19 season were published on Thursday with five new wrestlers from Hawaii listed. A total of 17 overall made the rankings of top 20 girls high school wrestlers in each individual weight class. Campbell’s Jazmyn Enriques, who won her first state title at 97 pounds last month, entered the rankings at No. 19 at 100 pounds. […]

Kelani Corbett joined an elite club. The Leilehua senior wrestler did it with four years of toil, and for her efforts, she received a smattering of boos amid the loud cheers at Blaisdell Arena. Those boo birds — fans of Corbett’s opponent Kapoina Bailey of Konawaena who appeared to have a problem with the officiating of their 168-pound final at the Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships — are now in the past, as are all of the wrestlers who unsuccessfully took […]