Wrestling
Campbell boys capture OIA wrestling crown


 



WAHIAWA - After finishing second in each of the past two seasons, the Campbell boys wrestling team reclaimed the Oahu Interscholastic Association wrestling championship by a wide margin over the competition Saturday night at Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium.

The Sabers, who won their only other league title in 2010, saw four of their individual wrestlers win their weight classes to run away with the team competition. Campbell scored 226 1/2 points, Pearl City finished second with 149 1/2, Mililani third with 129, Kapolei fourth with 119 1/2 and Kaiser was fifth with 111.

"It feels real good, because the last two years we finished in second and second sucks," Sabers coach Mark Buelow said. "It feels much better to be in first."

Brandon Perez won at 110 pounds for Campbell, as did Christian Natividad at 122, William James Yoro at 132 and Cornelius Putnam at 191. Zachary Kido (127), Jay Robinson Nabarrete Ladines (147) Toese Tia (287) each finished second, while Tristan Ludiazo (217) took third and Jayden Gallarde (116), Joshua Hao (137) and Francis Taua (154) added fifth-place finishes for the Sabers.

"I'm extremely proud of them," Buelow said. "We put seven in the finals, which was beyond what I originally expected, so they came to wrestle today, that's for sure."

Perez got things started for his team with an 8-2 win over Roosevelt Cayde Tagami. The senior held a lead of 2-0 after the first period and stretched it to 6-1 after two periods before a final takedown closed out the scoring.

Buelow said Perez ignited Campbell's championship run in the finals round.

"He's the leader of our team," Buelow said of the senior. "He's a captain, he's the hardest worker and he represents us coaches right, so the players follow his lead."

Natividad followed Perez's lead, winning his final over Kaimuki's Dylan Uno by a score of 11-4. Like Perez, Natividad also led throughout the entirety of his bout.

"It feels good to win as a team and I feel like I did a lot to help my team," said Natividad, a junior.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Yoro's victory in the 132-pound final, where he bested Kailua's Dominic Ramiscal, 3-2.

After a scoreless first period, Yoro went ahead 3-0 following an escape and takedown in the second. Ramiscal managed an escape early in the third round, but Yoro answered with a takedown to make the score 5-1. Ramiscal got a late reversal, but could get no closer and Yoro hung on.

"He took third in the West and came up with two upsets to get to the finals (Saturday)," Buelow said of Yoro. "He really stepped it up. All the kids stepped it up actually. I think they were mentally ready and obviously we were physically ready."

Putnam, a freshman, fought off Kapolei's Moses Wiseman to a 7-4 win in the 191-pound title match.

"He's learning, he's just got to figure out how to use that body he's got and once he does, I think he'll be unstoppable," Buelow said.

Putnam credited the rest of his teammates for helping him attain his individual crown.

"I think that we deserved it as a team, because we've been working really hard and being a part of the team has definitely helped us improve as individual wrestlers so without the team I don't think we'd be as good as are," Putnam said.

Campbell held a nearly insurmountable 66-point lead entering the finals round, but it mattered little to the wrestlers.

"Our coaches told us to dominate and that's what we were thinking of going into the final round, because if we didn't go and finish it with a win, it probably wouldn't go over well in practice next week," Putnam said.

In other matches of note Saturday, a trio of reigning state champions also won OIA titles.

Mililani junior Braydon Akeo handily defeated Campbell's Zachary Kido, 10-0, in their 127-pound final, Pearl City junior Blake Cooper pummeled Kapolei's Kainoa Marumoto, 25-12, in the 154-pound title bout and Moanalua senior Chaeden Grace Reyes topped Waianae's Donovan Nelson, 7-1, in the 173-pound final.

"It feels real good," said Akeo, who won the state championship at 110 last year. "When I wrestled Kido before, it was 3-2 and 4-2 - real close matches - and both of us are returning OIA champs and to come in here and dominate him the way I did, it feels really good."

Cooper, the reigning 147 state champ held leads of 7-3 after the first period and 13-7 after the second. He also won by technical fall (16-0) in a quarterfinal bout and by pin (1:37) in the semifinal round.

For Grace Reyes, it was his fourth OIA title at his second different school.

"It feels kind of good, but at the same time OIAs is not really a big deal, but winning four OIA titles for me is a kind of big thing," said Grace Reyes, who won the 173 state crown at Farrington last year.

A total of 181 wrestlers fought in 335 matches over the two-day tournament.

The Chevron/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Neal Blaisdell Center Arena.

2013 OIA Boys Varsity Wrestling Championships

Saturday

At Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium

Team Results

1, Campbell 226.5 points. 2, Pearl City 149.5. 3, Mililani 129. 4, Kapolei 119.5. 5, Kaiser 111. 6t, Moanalua 99. 6t, Waianae 66. 8, Radford 89. 9, Leilehua 78. 10, Waipahu 53.5. 11, Waialua 51. 12, Roosevelt 50. 13, Kahuku 49. 14, Kailua 47.5. 15, McKinley 47. 16, Kaimuki 41. 17, Castle 39. 18, Kalani 32. 19, Kalaheo 30. 20, Aiea 26. 21, Farrington 12. 22, Nanakuli 2.

Individual Results

110 pounds

1, Brandon Perez (Campbell). 2, Cayde Tagami (Roosevelt). 3, Chance Ikei (Kaiser). 4, Chaden Morisato (Kalani). 5, Shon Aragon (Moanalua). 6, Jason Hammonds (Kalaheo).

116 pounds

1, Treylan Kobayashi (Waialua). 2, Zachary Diamond (Mililani). 3, Eric Hironaka (Kaiser). 4, Henry Hong (McKinley). 5, Jayden Gallarde (Campbell). 6, Baylen Cooper (Pearl City).

122 pounds

1, Christian Natividad (Campbell). 2, Dylan Uno (Kaimuki). 3, Alika Agustine (Waianae). 4, Draten Morisato (Kalani). 5, Kawailani Somera Rickard (Leilehua). 6, Kalen Hong (Waialua).

127 pounds

1, Braydon Akeo (Mililani). 2, Zachary Kido (Campbell). 3, Reinton Kawamae (Roosevelt). 4, Landon Arita (Kaiser). 5, Chevy Tabiolo Felcilda (Farrington). 6, Jessie Saribay (Waipahu).

132 pounds

1, William James Yoro (Campbell). 2, Dominic Ramiscal (Kailua). 3, Chauncey Kano (Kapolei). 4, Mcgregor Gaborno (McKinley). 5, Sturlinge Rivera (Leilehua). 6, Alika Durham (Kaiser).

137 pounds

1, Canaan Kawaihae (Kailua). 2, Tristin Kamaka (Leilehua). 3, Timothy Riviera (Pearl City). 4, Christian Lee (Mililani). 5, Joshua Hao (Campbell). 6, Aaron Isala (Kapolei).

142 pounds

1, Nakoa Chun (Moanalua). 2, Liam Corbett (Radford). 3, Joshua Gima (Aiea). 4, Jayden Bagay Cenal (Pearl City). 5, Marquis Dominique (Mililani). 6, Kekua Marumoto (Kapolei).

147 pounds

1, Robert Kim (Mililani). 2, Jay Robinson Nabarrete Ladines (Campbell). 3, Zackery Kijek (Kaiser). 4, Jacob Solomon (Kalaheo). 5, Michael Graziano (Waianae). 6, Dean Domingo (Waipahu).

154 pounds

1, Blake Cooper (Pearl City). 2, Kainoa Marumoto (Kapolei). 3, Alec Donner (Kaiser). 4, Dean Kiamos (Radford). 5, Francis Taua (Campbell). 6, Brandon Pitts (Waianae).

162 pounds

1, Derek Lee Loy (Moanalua). 2, Kristian Vaana Kikuyama (Pearl City). 3, Rodney Williams (Castle). 4, Justin Bumanglag (Kapolei). 5, Shane Davis (Radford). 6, Lopaka Lono (Leilehua).

173 pounds

1, Chaedan Grace Reyes (Moanalua). 2, Donavan Nelson (Waianae). 3, Maui Lee Iii (Pearl City). 4, Justice Kaseli (Waipahu). 5, Troy Williams (Castle). 6, James Noh (Roosevelt).

191 pounds

1, Cornelius Putnam (Campbell). 2, Moses Wiseman (Kapolei). 3, Paul Joe (Pearl City). 4, William Domen  (Waianae). 5, Pablo Gonzalez (Radford). 6, Troy Souza.

217 pounds

1, Dayton Furuta (Mililani). 2, Simeon Vierra (Kahuku). 3, Tristan Ludiazo (Campbell). 4, Lavell Manning (Kapolei). 5, Nayton Kuresa (Waianae). 6, Kordell Vaa (Pearl City).

287 pounds

1, Jaryn Villegas (Leilehua). 2, Toese Tia (Campbell). 3, Robert Latuselu (Kahuku). 4, Daniel Chatmon (Radford). 5, Jordan Fuamatu (Pearl City). 6, Sakalaia Hungalu, Jr.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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