Leilehua’s Corbett wins national title

A day after celebrating her 16th birthday, Leilehua’s Kelani Corbett enjoyed another milestone.

Corbett, who won state championships as a freshman and sophomore, ran through the 152-pound bracket in the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Freestyle Cadet Nationals at Fargo, North Dakota.

Corbett, who was the top seed, pinned Persian Singh of New York in 32 seconds in the quarterfinals before edging Colorado’s Tristan Kelly 9-6 in the semis.

Corbett completed her mission with an 8-5 win over Wisconsin’s Kiana Pugh in the championship.

Corbett, a Cadet World Team member, finished fifth in the tournament last year. She finished the high school season third in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings last year behind Kahuku’s Teniya Alo and Angela Peralta of Radford.

Aiea’s Alejandra Corral seems to be following Corbett’s path, finishing in fifth place at 94 pounds. She lost a narrow 10-8 decision to Ohio’s Taryn Martin in the first round but went on a rampage after that, pinning Ohio’s Samantha Miller in 44 seconds and Melissa Lee of California in 33 seconds.

Her run ended with an 8-5 loss to Caitlyn Walker of Pennsylvania in the consolation semifinals, but she recovered to beat Genesis Quirarte of California 6-2 to take a step up on the podium.

Corral is entered in the Women’s Junior Nationals and National Duals later this week.

Waianae’s Rita Morales started like a house on fire in the 106-pound bracket, stopping Jaine Stephens of Kentucky in 1 minute, 40 seconds but got caught by Kailiena Allen of Ohio after 1:30 of her bout in the round of 16.

Morales went 1-1 in the consolation bracket, beating Mia Butler of Pennsylvania in 2:10 after a wild 16-13 score but then fell to Michigan’s Rayana Sahagun in 2:50.

Hawaii’s boys had a little success on their side of the tournament, going 2-8 overall with wins by Lahainaluna’s Kainalu Estrella at 126 pounds and Matthew Tamanaha of Kauai in the same bracket. Leilehua’s Isaac Stalcup was also in the bracket but failed to earn a victory.

Moanalua’s Logan Garcia went winless at 120 pounds.

Waianae’s Brian Himalaya and Waimea’s Naikoa Simao went winless in the Cadet Freestyle Nationals over the weekend.