Crunch time is here.
Leagues will hold their individual championships on Saturday, wrestling with state spots on the line before Sunday’s seeding meeting.
The top of Hawaiiprepworld.com’s pound-for-pound rankings remain unchanged, with Kamehameha junior Teshya Alo still solid in the top spot as she goes for her third ILH and state titles.
No. 2 Lalelei Mataafa of Lahainaluna is just as much of a lock as Alo, and teammate Carly Jaramillo rounds out a top three filled with mulitple-time state champions.
Behind them it gets interesting. ‘Iolani freshman Taniya Alo, Teshya’s sister, rose up to No. 4 during the regular season despite only the Officials Tournament championship on her ledger in high school. Still, she looks untouchable and comes in ahead of wrestlers with greater pedigree (for now).
Breanna Dudoit-Vasquez has a state championship to her credit but is in Teshya Alo’s class, finishing second to her at both Officials and Pa’ani. Diamond Freitas gives the Lunas four of the top seven wrestlers in the state.
Asia Lien Evans of Pearl City is the OIA’s top female wrestler according to this list, but that pool is very deep with Campbell’s Angela Peralta and Kalissa Pundyke right behind her. Pundyke, a state champion, was as high as No. 4 on the pound-for-pound this year after winning Officials but has found herself a rival in Brianna Leong of Leilehua.
The Mule has beaten the state champ twice since Officials, once at Farrington and again last week at Westerns. Despite dropping, Pundyke stays one step ahead of her on this elite list for at least another week. They should certainly hook up on Saturday at Leilehua and that would clear up the bottom of this list.
No matter who wins this time, they both will have to look good because Roosevelt’s Kristen Kojima is hot on their tails. Kojima, a state placer, lost to Pearl City’s Joen Tominaga at Officials but avenged it with a 3-2 win at Pa’ani and has done nothing but win since. Kojima pinned Kalani’s Czarina Pineda Abaya to win the OIA East last week in a rare competitive bracket on that side of the island and the OIA championship will probably come down to her and Tominaga. Kojima won the OIA championship at 113 last year, the only one in her weight class who will take such an accomplishment onto the mat. Tominaga was a state runner up last year despite not winning OIA, falling to Kamehameha’s Shayna Dilliner.
Kamehameha’s Donovyn Futa is the wild card. The state champion had people talking about four straight when she beat Pearl City’s Alexis Ford for the state crown last year has not made any noise since the first day of the Moanalua duals before the calendar turned to 2015.
Note: Look for the boys’ Pound-for-pound update tomorrow. We will be live blogging the state seeding meeting again this year, with Nick Abramo behind the keyboard beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday from ‘Iolani. On Saturday, we will have live blogs of the ILH and OIA finals if Kyle Galdeira and I can get a favorable setup.
1. Teshya Alo, Kamehameha (138)
State champ twice, ILH champ twice, Officials champ, Paani champ
2. Lalelei Mataafa, Lahainaluna (285)
State champ twice, MIL champ twice, Paani champ
3. Carly Jaramillo, Lahainaluna (145)
State champ twice, state third, MIL champ three times, Paani champ,
4. Taniya Alo, ‘Iolani (127)
Officials champ
5. Breanna Dudoit-Vasquez, Lahainaluna (138)
State champ, state third, MIL champ three times, second at Pa’ani, second at Officials
6. Asia Lien Evans, Pearl City (127)
Third at state, state runner up, Pa’ani champ, second at Officials, OIA West champ
7. Diamond Freitas, Lahainaluna (112)
State fourth, state fifth, MIL champ twice, Pa’ani champ, Officials champ
8. Angela Peralta, Campbell (145)
Third at state, OIA champ, Officials champ, Second at Pa’ani, OIA West champ
9. Kalissa Pundyke, Campbell (102)
State champ, Officials champ, second OIA West
10. Brianna Leong, Leilehua (102)
Third at Officials, second at Pa’ani, OIA West champ
Next: Donavyn Futa (Kamehameha). Kristen Kojima (Roosevelt), BJ Hoshino (Punahou), Jocelyn Alo (Kahuku), Joen Tominaga (Pearl City), Zion Vierra (Kamehameha), Alexis Encinas (Lahainaluna), Sarah Miner (Aiea), Chieko Sarah Imai (Punahou).
Leong beat Pundyke twice so they should be switched in ranking. Peralta defeated Vasquez so she should be ahead of her in ranking.