Kamehameha’s Zion Grace Vierra will be trying to put her name along the best in ILH history on Thursday at Kamehameha.
Vierra is the top seed at 147 pounds in the ILH championships, and has a bye into the final against teammate Jordan Yogi. If Vierra can win that wrestle-off for a top seed at states, she would collect the ILH slam. She won at 119 pounds as a freshman, 127 as a sophomore and 138 as a junior.
Vierra would be the first to sweep four ILH titles for her school since former teammate Teshya Alo. Other Warriors to complete the slam are Iwalani Fonoimoana, Randolyn Nohara and Bree Rapoza.
Vierra seemed to have a clean road to her first state crown next week but it became a little more difficult when Baldwin’s Jahnei Miguel moved up to her weight class for the MIL championships.
Other Kamehameha wrestlers who potentially shook up the state bracket are Ashley Gooman and Paige Respicio.
Gooman, who is halfway to a state slam and going for her third ILH crown, is the top seed and will wrestle Robyn Yim of Iolani in the final at 114 pounds. That means that Gooman will have to go through Kaiser’s Tiare Ikei for her third state title.
Gooman beat Ikei in the state final as a freshman.
Respicio is entered in the 134-pound bracket and will meet Punahou’s Isabella Wong in the ILH final as she goes for her second straight league title. That puts her on a state collision course with Lahainaluna state champion Kauanohi Keahi and ILH queen Roselani Ikei. Respicio pinned Keahi in the first period of a match at Paani this season.
Other girls going for repeat ILH titles are Punahou’s Sarah Obra-Nakata at 99 pounds and Anela Kahuliapo of Kamehameha at 186.
Obra-Nakata is seeded third behind Kaycie Tanimoto of Pac-Five and Iolani’s Zoe Omura. Obra Nakata meets Tanimoto in the semis.
Pac-Five’s Chynna Ancheta won her second straight ILH title before the tournament even began, earning the crown at 170 pounds without opposition. Punahou’s Tenielle Ellis is the ILH champion at 225 after not finding an opponent.
Kahuliapo will have to earn her second crown as the third seed at 186 pounds. She will meet second seed Dylan Huddy of Pac-Five in the semis for the right to wrestle Valerie Ramos of Damien in the final.
Here are the brackets: Girls Varsity Brackets
With all due respect to all of these wrestlers who work hard, these “championship” brackets show how unpopular this sport has become. I can’t believe that there are some divisions that only have two wrestlers and so that becomes the championship match. Second place is both runner-up and last place.
Some girls can win only four matches at ILH Championships in four years (one match a year) and become a four-time champ. Unreal. Back in the day, you had to win four matches in two days just to get to the championship match.