Wrestling

Some wrestling families in Hawaii keep putting competitors on the mat generation after generation or year after year. The Cooper family is one of them — dad Ray Cooper was a state runner-up and his sons Raynald Cooper, Blake Cooper, Baylen Cooper and Makoa Cooper have all won state titles. And now comes the girl, who will have three more tries at a state championship of her own. Pearl City’s Makana Cooper, a sophomore, won the OIA West title in […]

Moanalua swept the boys and girls team titles in the OIA East Division championships on Saturday at Farrington, but the battle to watch was in the girls 117-pound bracket. Roosevelt’s Macy Higa, ranked No. 9 in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings, edged Kaiser’s Tiare Ikei (No. 8) by a 4-3 decision in a razor-thin final. Higa won a state title at 112 pounds as a sophomore and finished second last year. Ikei won Officials at 112 pounds last month while […]

The Waianae girls and Leilehua boys won OIA West wrestling championships Saturday at the Pearl City gym. The meet’s individual finals results are below, followed by team standings, links to official brackets and results, and notes from earlier in the day. If applicable, a wrestler’s Hawaii Prep World pound-for-pound ranking is noted. Boys 106: Joe Fila Faafiu (Leilehua) def. Nicholas Cordeiro (Waianae),7-2 113: Troy Weilbacher (Waianae) def. Mitchell Funasaki (Mililani), 8-5 120: Keola Bright (Nanakuli) def. Prestiege Kahookele Himalaya (Waianae), […]

Twelve of 20 wrestlers in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings will be in action Saturday in either the OIA East or the OIA West championships. Out West at Pearl City, five of 10 p4p boys and two of 10 p4p girls will go for divisional titles before next week’s league meet. In the East at Farrington, there will be one p4p boy and four p4p girls competing. Here’s a list of those 12: OIA West championships, at Pearl City Boys […]

Four of the 14 Open Division finals matches from last week’s Pa’ani Challenge girls wrestling meet at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse are on the videos below. Sami Saribay (Lahainaluna) def. Ira Navarro (Lahainaluna), 107 pounds: Tiare Ikei (Kaiser) def. Shantelle Mangrobang (Leilehua), 112 pounds: Paige Respicio (Kamehameha) def. Kauanoe Keahi (Lahainaluna), 138 pounds: Taylor Pelegrino Hayase (Lahainaluna) def. Iwi Kinimaka (Campbell), 145 pounds:

Clarissa Chun was a U.S. Olympian … been there done that, twice. More than that, she is an example … perhaps the best possible example … for Hawaii’s girls wrestlers to follow, whether or not they want to compete for fun or go as far as possible in the sport. Chun, a 1999 Roosevelt graduate and two-time state champion, was at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse for last week’s Pa’ani Challenge to run a Wednesday clinic and to help give out awards […]

Want to catch Thursday’s Pa’ani Challenge finals? You can watch all of the action on Punahou’s Punavision here. A list of the finals matchups at the all-girls wrestling meet at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse follows. Results will be updated below. 2018 Pa’ani Novice FINALS 2018 Pa’ani Open FINALS 97 pounds Savannah Ramos (Leilehua) vs. Allicia Mahoe (Kapolei) Result: Mahoe wins by technical fall, 14-2. 102 pounds Kaitlin Ito (Pac-Five) vs. Kennedy Javier (Mililani) Result: Ito wins 9-2. 107 pounds Sami Saribay […]