Wrestling

A day after celebrating her 16th birthday, Leilehua’s Kelani Corbett enjoyed another milestone. Corbett, who won state championships as a freshman and sophomore, ran through the 152-pound bracket in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Freestyle Cadet Nationals at Fargo, North Dakota. Corbett, who was the top seed, pinned Persian Singh of New York in 32 seconds in the quarterfinals before edging Colorado’s Tristan Kelly 9-6 in the semis. Corbett completed her mission with an 8-5 win over Wisconsin’s Kiana Pugh […]

‘Iolani’s Walden Au and Punahou’s Maika Nagata earned distinguished honors from the the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Au, who helped lead the Raiders boys to a second straight state championship, was named the organization’s head coach of the year for Hawaii. ‘Iolani’s boys had four individual state champions, eight second-place state finishers and nine state qualifiers. Dane Yamashiro, KJ Pascua, Kainoa Torigoe and Saiaga Fautanu were the Raiders state champs. It is Au’s second-straight year as Hawaii’s coach of the […]

There is certainly no bias against heavyweights in the ILH offices. Iolani heavyweight Dane Yamashiro was selected the ILH’s most valuable player in boys wrestling on Friday. The senior wrapped up his ILH career with a second league title at 285 pounds and followed it up with a repeat at the state championships. He pinned both opponents he faced at the ILH championships and was one of only six ILH boys to sweep Officials, league and state crowns. Yamashiro finished […]

The name atop Hawaii Prep World’s end of season girls pound-for-pound rankings is the same as it ever was. Kahuku’s Teniya Alo follows her sister, Teshya, as the state’s best after an unbeaten season capped off by her second state title with a dominating performance including pins in her four matches. Teniya started the season outside of the top spot but took her rightful place after moving up to 145 to beat Radford’s Angela Peralta. The closest wrestler to Peralta’s […]

Corey Cabanban of Saint Louis ends the wrestling season atop the pound-for-pound rankings after sweeping through states on his way to his third title. He will undoubtedly begin his quest for No. 4 atop the rankings next year. Cabanban had his share of opposition during his run, beating Mililani’s Casey Nitta 2-0 before being pushed a little bit by Moanalua’s Logan Garcia in the final. He wasn’t alone, each of the top wrestlers endured a few nervous moments during the […]

Four boys this year — Kapolei’s Jayson Pagurayan, ‘Iolani’s Colby Watase and KJ Pascua, and Antonio Ruiz of Moanalua — swept through the first day of the Chevron/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships to guarantee themselves their fourth state medal. They were certainly thinking of championships at that time, but to reach the podium four straight years is an accomplishment in itself. Pascua was the only senior in the group to earn the elusive state title. The other three earned some select […]