While the Pearl City boys and the Kamehameha girls claimed their first team state championships Saturday night, Lahainaluna found itself in an all-too-familiar spot at the end of the two-day Chevron/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Championships.

The Lunas' boys and girls squads both finished second, behind the Chargers and Warriors, respectively. The boys ended up 9.5 points behind Pearl City, while the girls were 13 points behind Kamehameha.

Despite the fact that both Lahainaluna teams improved upon matching third-place finishes a year ago, this one was especially agonizing for them. That's because the Lunas sat atop the boys' and girls' team standings after the first day of action Friday.
The boys were 17 points ahead of their nearest competitor and the girls led Kamehameha by five points.

When I spoke with Lahainaluna coach Todd Hayase late Friday night, he noted the importance of the 10 a.m. semifinal round Saturday.

"I don't know what the points are, but it really doesn't matter because that semifinal round (Saturday) at 10 a.m. is going to be huge," Hayase said at the time.

Unfortunately for the Lunas, they only put 50 percent (three of six) of both their boys and girls into the championship final. Zach Wigzell (113 pounds), Christian Balangso (120) and Bubba Jaramillo (145) were the only boys to advance to the state final round — of those only Jaramillo won. Meanwhile, Pearl City had four finalists, of which three won.

On the girls' side, Brenna Dudoit Vasquez (135 pounds), Carly Jaramillo (140) and Lalelei Mataafa (220) were the three wrestlers to win their semifinal bouts and advance. All three won in the championship round — Jaramillo and Maatafa their second consecutive individual crown — but it wasn't enough as all five of Kamehameha's finalists won their final match.

Lahainaluna has been the most successful neighbor-island program in recent history, but have yet to break through for a team title. The boys have finished no worse than third since 2008, while the girls have posted top-four finishes over the past four years.

Hayase admittedly said Friday night that the Lunas are a little tired of second- and third-place finishes, but that trend continues for at least another year.

Bubba Jaramillo, who won his second straight state title Saturday night, expressed disappointment of his team coming up short this year, but optimism for the future at the same time.

"Our team was working so hard this year for this team title and we were doing really well, we just had some heartbreakers in the quarterfinals and semis that we really needed to win," Bubba Jaramillo said. "All in all, it was a good experience, not only for me, but for my teammates. We have a young team, so they'll be back, hungry for more."