Campbell comes out on top at Moanalua

After the Campbell boys wrestling team survived this, the OIA and state championships should be no trouble.

The Sabers won seven dual meets in two days, capping it off with a 46-20 victory over Punahou to win the Moanalua Holiday Dual Tournament on Saturday.

The Sabers didn’t shake the Buffanblu until freshman Micah Tynanes-Perez earned them six points with a pin of Kevin Yoshimoto to give his team a 27-20 lead.

Campbell’s Micah Platt started the winners off with a narrow 4-3 win over Connor Lee, and Josh Gallarde gave them their first lead at 9-4 when he pinned Andrew Kuenwright. The lead traded hands after each of the next six matches until Tynanes-Perez stopped that roller coaster. Francis Taua, Joshua Hao and Dillon Quintana contributed wins to keep Campbell in it, but Rennoldz Soares may have made the biggest difference in a loss. Soares got caught by Punahou’s Connor Barfield twice and bridged both times, his face a mask of torture while he waited for the bell to save him each time. Barfield won 13-1, but he didn’t get the six points for the pin and the Sabers appreciated it.

"That’s big," Campbell coach Mark Buelow said. "In a team format like this that is huge. He lost, but he didn’t get pinned. That’s why we like this tournament — the team format really is a good thing for the kids."

Campbell finally got a cushion when Tynanes-Perez put on a show. The freshman, who comes from a long line of state champions, with brothers Lowen and Tyson having earned two state crowns each, actually didn’t want to pin his opponent but felt he had no choice. When he did the deed, he looked directly into the crowd and smiled, the grin breaking just as the referee’s hand slapped the mat.

"I could have worked on my stuff a little better, but I love my (team)," Tynanes-Perez said. "I looked up and the crowd was all looking at me and it was like a goose-bump experience, I just had to pin him for the team."

After that, Connor Sullivan, Thor Kapisi-Brady, Johnny Morrison and Toese Tia all beat their opponents to turn the tight match into a rout. Morrison and Tia both won their matches by pin.

The Moanalua duals event is a rare chance to gauge how team races might shape up when the state tournament rolls around, and right now Campbell might be the team to beat.

"They were second in the state last year," Punahou coach Yoshi Honda said. "They were OIA champs and we are still trying to get to that level. They were just a better team than we were today."

Buelow said that it was the first time Campbell had ever beaten Punahou in a dual tournament. The Sabers finished well ahead of state champion Kamehameha, which took fifth without its top squad. Pearl City was third with a 30-25 win over Kapolei.

Defending girls state champion Pearl City ran through its pool, beating Kamehameha 45-33, Radford 54-9, a combined Kahuku/Kaiser team 42-36 and Leilehua 45-30. After those tests, the Chargers beat Punahou 45-30 in the final. Kamehameha took third place.

The Buffanblu went unbeaten through their bracket before losing to the Chargers. Both teams participated in Punahou’s Pa’ani Challenge the day before.

"It was fun," Pearl City coach Mike Lee said. "I knew they had a chance, but with all of the matches I was just hoping nobody got hurt."