Atalbert DeBrum was in a pressure situation, with all his teammates watching off the edge of the mat.
His Kapolei Hurricanes were losing in the OIA dual-match championship to the Waianae Seariders — a three-point deficit — at the Campbell gym Saturday.
So, DeBrum’s result would decide. Win it and the Hurricanes are OIA champions. Lose it, and the title goes to the Seariders.
And the boy pulled through, pinning Waianae’s Andrew Bushong at 5:35 in the 120-pound division. But it wasn’t easy. He shook off ties of 2-2 and 4-4 and went ahead for good at 6-4. The lead got up to 10-5 before the pin.
The victory in that match gave Kapolei a 39-36 win. A field goal, in football parlance, was the slim margin in the Westside rivalry.
“For him, it was huge,” Hurricanes coach Sean Salter said after his boys exploded in celebration after the win. “He hasn’t been on the mat for three weeks. Ho only got on the mat on Wednesday for the first time. We didn’t know what we were going to see out of him. He went out there, wrestled his heart out, was in some bad positions and still came through. If he loses we lose, real simple.”
At one point in the boys title match, Waianae led 18-0.
Kapolei and all of the other OIA boys and girls teams, including the league girls champion Moanalua, will be involved in the OIA individual championships in two weeks. After that, the state tournament will be upon them.
Na Menehune scored a 45-27 win over Mililani in the girls title match Saturday at Campbell.
Some key individual victories in that one were by Moanalua’s Chloe Yuen, who was trailing 5-2 before she pinned Mililani’s Jacinta Fonoti at 184 pounds.
“She wanted it badly,” Na Menehune coach Sean Sakaida said. “She said, ‘I gotta avenge all of of my losses.’ Yeah, I told her, that’s the way you gotta think of it.
As a team, Moanalua lost to Mililani twice earlier in the season.
Results follow. Six points are awarded for pins and forfeits. Three for a decision.
OIA GIRLS DUAL MEET CHAMPIONSHIP
Moanalua 45, Mililani 27
>> 122: Victoria Lee (Mililani) def. Hailey Perez (Moanalua), fall, 3:54
>> 127: Lana Perez (Moanalua) wins by forfeit
>> 132: Rachel Oshita (Moanalua) def. Jolina Lefao (Mililani), fall 3:44
>> 138: Double forfeit
>> 145: Kimberly Kealoha (Mililani) def. Teme Kerisano (Moanalua), fall 3:10
>> 155: Kira Jhun (Moanalua) wins by forfeit
>> 168: Kayla Antolin (Moanalua) def. Kawehi Souza (Mililani), fall 3:45
>> 184: Chloe Yuen (Moanalua) def. Jacinta Fonoti (Mililani), fall 2:41
>> 225: Ati Fonoti (Mililani) def. Princess Leota (Moanalua), 5-4
>> 97: Yap Caitlin (Moanalua) def. Erin Hikiji (Mililani), illegal throw and injury, 1:00
>> 102: Isabelle Asuncion (Moanalua) def. Kennedy Javier (Mililani), 3-2
>> 107: Angelina Calpito (Mililani) def. Miya Jhun (Moanalua), fall 3:56
OIA BOYS DUAL-MEET CHAMPIONSHIP
Kapolei 39, Waianae 36
>> 126: Branson Magsayo (Waianae) def. Jayden Jones (Kapolei), fall 1:13
>> 132: Shaiden Bailey (Waianae) def. Journey Feliciano (Kapolei), fall 2:46
>> 138: Daniel Branigan (Waianae) def. Kaimana Mcbrayer (Kapolei), 11-7
>> 145: Breeze Keolanui (Waianae) def. Isaiah Armington (Kapolei), 9-5
>> 152: Branden Pagurayan (Kapolei) def. Dustin Balanci-Sadamaru (Waianae), fall 1:36
>> 160: Timothy Uriam (Kapolei) def. Jet Li Lam (Waianae), fall 0:49
>> 170: Kilohana Swanson (Kapolei) def. Vanderlei Yong (Waianae), 12-10
>> 182: Kayzehn Aiwohi-Frisby (Waianae) def. Jamil Sampel (Kapolei), fall 3:44
>> 195: Billy Makaila (Kapolei) def. Kainoa Santos (Waianae), fall 2:18
>> 220: Charles Hanohano (Kapolei) wins by forfeit
>> 285: Rafael Leapaga (Kapolei) def. Jace Filipo Rodrigues (Waianae), fall 3:59
>> 106: Nicholas Cordeiro (Waianae) wins by forfeit
>> 113: Hakuilua Paaluhi (Waianae) def. LJ Oki (Kapolei), fall 2:42
>> 120: Atalbert DeBrum (Kapolei) def. Andrew Bushong (Waianae), fall 5:35
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