Moanalua’s sweep of the OIA wrestling championships on Saturday at Leilehua came with a breakthrough on the boys side.
Na Menehune became the first team from the East to wins the boys title since 2009, snapping the West’s nine-year run at the top.
It was the first boys title for Moanalua since 1998 while the girls won for the second straight year.
“We’ve been working for a long time trying to figure out how to win this team title,” senior Noah Wusstig said. “Our intensity has changed. We’ve been playing it smart — not going all out — training each other and learning how each other wrestles. We’ve all improved as a team.”
Wusstig, ranked No. 4 in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings, led the way with his second league crown.
After winning at 138 last year, Wusstig moved up to 145 and pinned Leilehua’s Naikoa Simao.
It was meaningful for Wusstig, who had to go to overtime to beat Simao to win Officials in December.
“I got to show everybody that I can go the lab, fix on it, get better and improve,” Wusstig said. “I hadn’t been in overtime in like two years. It was good I got to see him in the finals because I knew it would be a good match.”
Wusstig was one of three Moanalua boys to win titles. Sophomore Boltyn Taam, who won an ILH championship as a freshman at Saint Louis before transferring, added a 160-pound OIA title to his trophy case.
Taam, who won the OIA East Division title a week ago when nobody else entered his division, won 5-1 over Leilehua’s Jhael Jb Jose.
“It went according to plan. Get the dub and get out of here,” Taam said. “This team has made me a better wrestler than last year. There’s a lot less guys in the ILH. These guys are definitely bigger at 160 than 152.”
The Moanalua girls team got three individual wins, including a title at 132 ponds by senior Faith Joy Okubo, who knocked off top seed Chanel Hunter of Pearl City in the final seconds.
Hunter held a 1-0 lead with 15 seconds remaining when Okubo exploded for a two-point takedown and then rode out the win.
“It’s humbling and nerve-racking because all of my matches (feel like) they have come down to the last minute,” Okubo said. “In my mind I just put my heart into it and kept fighting for that takedown. When you really want to win you have it in your heart to fight for it.”
Okubo said she never looks at the clock during her matches and didn’t know how little time she had left.
It was also the first time she had advanced to the league finals.
“Being in that moment was a great feeling,” Okubo said. “Us pushing each other at every practice, not just the girls but the boys too, have made us stronger and better.”
Finals began at 8:20 p.m. after the start of Day 2 was moved back to 2 p.m. because it was a college testing day.
Two No. 1 seeds lost on the boys side as Moanalua’s Elijah Asuncion rebounded from a loss to Kaiser’s Koby Chun in the OIA East Division championships last weekend to beat Chun 7-0 for his second OIA title. Asuncion won at 113 pounds a year ago.
Kapolei’s Vance Keliihoomalu won in overtime against top seed Jaycen Crisostomo of Moanalua to win the 182-pound crown.
Moanalua’s Lana Perez won the 138-pound title with a pin over Aiea’s Jamie Grilho, who beat top seed Heavenli Sardinha of Campbell in the semifinals 5-4 after Sardinha pinned Grilho last week at the OIA West Division championships.
Waianae’s Tiare Carlson won the 145-pound crown when she pinned top seed Sadie Antoque of Castle.
OIA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
BOYS
106—Nicholas Cordeiro (Waianae) def. Khansith Chanthabouasith (Leilehua) by pinfall, 5:07
113—Thomas Nitta (Kalaheo) def. Dylan Ramos (Leilehua) by decision, 7-5
120—Elijah Asuncion (Moanalua) def. Koby Chun (Kaiser) by decision, 7-0
126—Weiyi Zheng (Aiea) def. Rylen Uyeno (Kaiser) by decision, 5-1
132—Jedaiah Borge (Kalaheo) def. Kade Okura (Kalani) by technical fall, 15-0
138—Kaena Desantos (Leilehua) def. Blaze Sumiye (Moanalua) by decision, 8-3
145—Noah Wusstig (Moanalua) def. Naikoa Simao (Leilehua) by pinfall, 2:45
152—Branden Pagurayan (Kapolei) def. Pookela De Santos (Leilehua) by major decision, 14-3
160—Boltyn Taam (Moanalua) def. Jhael Jb Jose (Leilehua) by decision, 5-1
170—Rysan Leong (Kalaheo) def. Andrew Adiniwin (Moanalua) by pinfall, 4:00
182—Vance Keliihoomalu (Kapolei) def. Jaycen Crisostomo (Moanalua) by sudden victory, 4-2
195—Tao Tuulima (Kapolei) def. Aidan Fernandez, Pearl City by major decision, 17-7
225—Austin Morris (Campbell) def. Zion Lista (Farrington) by tiebreaker decision, 5-4
285—Iulio Atonio (McKinley) def. Rafael Leapaga (Kapolei) by decision, 8-2
GIRLS
97—Jazmyn Enriquez (Campbell) def. Precious Tampos (Moanalua) by decision, 5-0
102—Majesty Terukina (Campbell) def. Brianna Funakoshi (Aiea) by decision, 3-2
107—Allicia Mahoe (Kapolei) def. Shantelle Mangrobang (Leilehua) by decision, 8-2
112—Alizeih Villalpando (Campbell) def. Anjelynn Baron (Roosevelt) by major decision, 13-0
117—Sadie Reyes (Waianae) def. Codi-jane Kamaka (Moanalua) by pinfall, 4:49
122—Makana Cooper (Pearl City) def. Katie Reyes (Waianae) by major decision, 12-2
127—Emily Paulino (Kalani) def. Kira Borengasser (Moanalua) by pinfall, 3:24
132—Faith Joy Okubo (Moanalua) def. Chanel Hunter (Pearl City) by decision, 2-1
138—Lana Perez (Moanalua) def. Jamie Grilho (Aiea) by pinfall, 2:43
145—Tiare Carlson (Waianae) def. Sadie Antoque (Castle) by pinfall, 1:49
155—Kaleinani Makuaole (Waianae) def. Keahi Paas-Basilio (Leilehua) by major decision, 8-0
168—Kelani Corbett (Leilehua) def. Alexis Tupuola (Moanalua) by pinfall, 5:03
184—Alexis Dela Pena (Moanalua) def. Antonio Tomas (Leilehua) by pinfall
225—Sila Fotu (Farrington) def. Tangiteina Niutupuivaha (Kahuku) by decision, 3-1
Would be nice to see the brackets since the top 8 go to States and who made it
I just added them. Sorry meant to last night. It was a late night.
Track wrestling has all the resultz and bracketz
Thank you! Congrats to all participants 🙂