Wrestling

Punahou’s Casen Watanabe was down by an overwhelming margin and looking surely to lose against No. 2 seed Logan Garcia of Moanalua in the 126-pound semifinals at the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships Thursday at Blaisdell Arena. Yet, at the start of the third period, down 6-1, his Buffanblu coaches encouraged him. “This is the last two minutes, this is your time,” they said. Sure enough, Watanabe turned the tables and pinned Garcia at 4:21 and the sidelines erupted. “That’s why […]

Kaiser’s Roselani Ikei and Kamehameha’s Paige Respcio advanced to the final of the 132-pound girls division at the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships Thursday at Blaisdell Arena. Ikei, the OIA champ, is going for her first state title, and so is Respcio, the ILH champ. “I have to be aware out there because (Paige) is a really good wrestler,” Ikei said. “As long as I keep my positioning right, I should be OK.” Respicio is confident. “I got this,” said the […]

Kapolei’s Allicia Mahoe knocked off top seed Zoe Omura of ‘Iolani 9-2 in the 97-pound semifinals of the state wrestling championships Thursday at Blaisdell Arena. Mahoe will face OIA champion Xiaolin Mai of Roosevelt in the final. Mai pinned Aiea’s Brianna Funakoshi in 3:01. Mai has placed second and third in states before. Mahoe has placed fifth and sixth in the past. LIVE COVERAGE

Below are six vidoes from the first day of the state wrestling championships at Blaisdell Arena on Wednesday. The videos are of the following matches (not in order): >> Boys 120 quarterfinal: Kysen Terukina (Kamehameha) def. Kahilihiwa Joy (Baldwin), fall >> Girls 122 quarterfinal: Nanea Estrella (Lahainaluna) def. Amanda Higa (Moanalua), 1-0 >> Boys 126 quarterfinal: Corey Cabanban (Saint Louis) def. Isaac Stalcup (Leilehua), 3-1 >> Girls 132 quarterfinal: Gabrielle Perez (Moanalua) def. Kauanoe Keahi (Lahainaluna), 5-4 >> Boys 170 […]

The Kamehameha boys wrestling team wants to keep the Koa in the ILH. The Warriors lead the team standings after the first day of the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships, trying to win the title it took in 2013. ‘Iolani won it the last two years. The race is tight, though, with the Warriors sitting at 80 points to lead Lahainaluna (79.5) and Leilehua (74). That’s what you call tight. Kamehameha has six wrestlers still alive for individual titles, matched by […]

Baldwin is in position to win its first-ever girls team title at the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships. The Bears, who finished fourth last year, can keep the title on Maui after Lahainaluna won it last year. They scored 81 points on the first day, followed by Moanalua (71) and Kamehameha (69). Pearl City is right behind with 68. Baldwin has nine girls still alive and six of them still have shots at individual titles. Only Pearl City has as many […]

Second-seeded Kaysen Takenaka of ‘Iolani edged Pearl City’s Kasey Kikuyama 7-5 in the 170-pound quarterfinals of the state wrestling meet on Wednesday at Blaisdell Arena. Takenaka joins top-seeded Keanu Punley of Leilehua, Kachi Respicio of Campbell and Roosevelt’s Salvador Gonzalez in the semifinals of the power-packed bracket. Kikuyama held a 3-2 lead, but Takenaka tied it up 3-3. From there, things happened quickly. Kikuyama nearly had a takedown (and coach Todd Los Banos said after the match that he thought […]

Saint Louis’ Corey Cabanban is halfway to his fourth state title at the Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships. On Wednesday in the 126-pound division, Cabanban edged Leilehua’s Isaac Stalcup 3-1 to advance to Thursday’s semifinals against MIL champion Zeff Dudoit of Lahainaluna. Cabanban, the No. 1-ranked boys wrestler in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings, is going for a fourth state title in a fourth different weight class to go along with his four ILH titles. Stalcup made it tougher than expected. […]