Girls wrestling on Maui is on a mean roll, and there is a new team to beat from the Valley Isle.
Baldwin flew in to Oahu for the Hawaii Wrestling Association Officials Scholarship Tournament on Friday and the Bears left on Saturday as girls champions. It represents a shift in the balance of power on Maui, since Lahainaluna is usually the school that comes over and succeeds. The Lunas, who placed fourth Saturday at the Leilehua High gym, won state titles in the spring of 2015 and 2017.
The Bears finished with 166.5 points, thanks in part to three individual champions — Tianna Fernandez (107 pounds), Waipuilani Estrella Beauchamp (127) and Siera Vida (184). All won by pin.
“I did what my dad taught me,” said Fernandez, who won the Garner Ivey tournament on Maui recently, about her victory over Roosevelt’s Haylee Fujioka. “When they’re pushing one way, I push the opposite way.”
Vida got out of a tilt attempt by Pearl City’s Michelle Tanuvasa.
“Then I had control of her hand and I bulldozed her,” Vida said.
Moanalua (136) and Leilehua (125) finished second and third in the girls team standings.
The Mules’ Kelani Corbett defeated Pearl City’s Jennie Fuamatu in a highly anticipated — and wild — match at 168 pounds. They were going back and forth with brutal throws and Fuamatu appeared to have Corbett in trouble a few times, but Leilehua’s two-time state champion prevailed 11-3 over the one-time state champ who came down from 184 to meet her.
“I knew she (Fuamatu) was going to be tired because the weight cut is brutal that she did,” said Corbett, who is No. 2 in the Hawaii Prep World pound-for-pound rankings. “It would be brutal for anyone. I want to give her props. She came down to challenge me and she put up a good fight.”
Fuamatu (No. 6 p4p) is as tough as they come.
“I think Kelani just played to her strength and caught Jennie in some areas that are not her strength,” Pearl City coach Todd Los Banos said. “She (Kelani) ducked under a few times to get takedowns. Jennie had a shot at her on a stepover, but Kelani has been in a lot of matches and knew how to keep away from Jennie’s strength, which is power and (physical) strength. Jennie usually dominates and overwhelms people. Kelani did not get overwhelmed. For Jennie to come down in weight is impressive. She wouldn’t use it as an excuse, but that takes some of your strength away.”
Sisters Tiare and Roselani Ikei won titles for Kaiser in the 112- and 132-pound divisions.
Leilehua captured the boys championship with 186.5 points, 11.5 more than runner-up Saint Louis. Kamehameha was third with 161.
”My boys pulled it together and worked really hard and we even did it without our returning state champ, which makes it even a little bit sweeter,” Mules coach Kevin Corbett said. “They came together as a team. That (winning team titles) is what they’re working for and I’m proud of them.”
Leilehua’s 182-pound state champion Brett Barefoot did not compete due to personal commitments. Still, the Mules got a big performance from Keanu Punley, who topped Kahuku’s Sitaleki Tongi in the 170-pound final. Leilehua also scored big with two runner-up finishers (Hunter Nagatani at 113, and Jhael JB Jose at 145) and three who finished in third place.
The biggest upset of the day, however, came in the 120-pound semifinals, when Baldwin’s Kahilihiwa Joy pinned Kysen Terukina (No. 4 p4p) of Kamehameha, who won states at 113 last season.
“I can’t believe I just did that,” Joy said afterward. “Coming in to here, I thought I wasn’t going to do so good, but I came here and wrestled my best, wrestled my all. All thanks to my coaches.”
Joy went on to pin his opponent, unseeded Jude Michael Talana of Maui High, in the 120-pound final in 35 seconds.
Kamehameha’s Paige Respicio also pulled off a major upset, defeating Baldwin’s Jahnea Miguel (No. 8 p4p) — the reigning 127 pound state titlist — 5-0 in the 138-pound final.
Complete results are in scoreboard.
