Each year, David Terao has gotten closer and closer to All-America status.
Thursday marks the American University senior’s last chance to get it.
Terao, a 2011 Mid-Pacific graduate, is one of two wrestlers from Hawaii competing in the NCAA Championships that begin Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
PROFILES
David Terao
» School: American University
» Class: Senior
» High school: Mid-Pacific (2011)
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
2012-13: 28-14
2013-14: 34-10
2014-15: 39-7
2015-16: 25-5
TOTAL: 126-36
Dane Pestano
» School: Iowa State
» Class: Sophomore
» High school: Kamehameha (2013)
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD
2014-15: 6-3
2015-16: 24-13
TOTAL: 30-16
Terao, ranked No. 19 in the nation at 125 pounds by InterMat, will become just the fourth wrestler in school history to compete in four straight NCAA championships.
He is seeded 15th.
Iowa State’s Dane Pestano, who won 13 total matches his first two years with the Cyclones, was an at-large selection at 184 pounds. The 2013 Kamehameha Schools alumnus went 24-13 this year and will meet No. 12 seed Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State in the first round.
Pestano advanced to the consolation finals of the Big 12 Championships with his sixth sudden-death victory of the season in the semis.
Terao opens with unseeded Nick Herrmann of Virginia before a likely match against No. 2 seed Joey Dance of Virginia Tech.
Terao has won two matches at the NCAA Championships in each of the past two years after going 0-2 as a freshman.
Last year, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the winner’s bracket before losing a 4-1 decision to the No. 1 seed.
He then lost an 8-5 decision to the No. 11 seed that would have guaranteed him one of the eight All-America honors handed out to the top eight at each weight class.
Terao finished fifth at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships and is 25-5 this season.
His 126 career victories set an AU program record.
As a junior, he finished 39-7, setting a single-season program record for wins, His 19-1 mark in duals was also second-best in AU history.
Terao went 34-10 as a sophomore and led the team as a freshman with a 28-14 record.
Terao won two state wrestling titles and was a four-time state judo champion in high school.
Pestano, who redshirted his first season with Iowa State, went 7-6 competing in three tournaments unattached and was 6-3 while participating in two tournaments as a redshirt freshman in 2014-15.
Pestano was 73-6 at Kamehameha and won the 215-pound state title as a senior.
ESPN3 will carry individual mat feeds throughout the entire tournament, allowing fans to choose which wrestlers and/or schools to follow at any time.
ESPN will televise the semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday, while ESPNU will cover the first and second rounds on Thursday, the quarterfinals on Friday and the medal round on Saturday.
AROUND THE NATION
Pietsch earns first All-America honor
Emory University sophomore Daniel Pietsch, a 2014 Seabury Hall alumnus, earned the first indoor All-America certificate of his career after finishing in second place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.97 seconds at the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Grinnell, Iowa, on Saturday.
Pietsch became the third Emory University runner to earn All-America honors in that event and his second-place finish ties the highest ever finish by an Eagles runner.
Pietsch will shift his focus to the outdoor season beginning this week.
As a freshman, he just barely made All-America status in the 400-meter dash with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
He was the UAA champion in the 400 meters and finished second in both the 400-meter relay and 1,600-meter relay events.
Tobita grabs Pac-12 women’s tennis nod
Oregon sophomore Alyssa Tobita helped the Ducks win their opening two Pac-12 matches of the season over the weekend and was named the conference’s women’s tennis player of the week on Monday.
The 2014 Mililani graduate nailed down both match-clinching singles victories to extend the Ducks’ winning streak to eight.
She tallied a three-set win over the No. 105-ranked singles player in the country on Sunday at No. 2 singles to clinch a 4-3 win over No. 49 Washington.
Oregon opened conference play with a 5-2 win over Washington State on Friday that saw Tobita win at both No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles.
Tobita is now 10-0 in dual play singles during the spring and 7-1 in doubles.
BASEBALL
>> Ryley Widell, King Kekaulike ’15: The Washington State freshman left-hander earned his first collegiate win, tossing four innings of one-hit ball with three walks, four strikeouts and one run allowed in an 8-1 victory over Northeastern on Sunday.
>> Rick Nomura, Punahou ’12: The Arkansas second baseman went 4-for-5 with a double, a homer, three runs, two RBIs and a stolen base in a 9-3 win over Western Illinois on Saturday.
>> Christian Donahue, ‘Iolani ’14: The Oregon State right fielder started two of the Beavers’ three games against San Francisco and went 3-for-6 with a triple, two runs and an RBI as the Beavers took two of three.
>> KJ Harrison, Punahou ’14: The Oregon State first baseman finished 2-for-9 with three walks, a double, two runs and an RBI in three games against the Dons.
>> Tyler Meditz, Kamehameha ’13: The Santa Clara junior outfielder went 1-for-4 with three walks and a run scored in a doubleheader split against UMass Lowell on Saturday.
>> Jason Rosen, Punahou ’13: The Portland junior doubled, scored twice and drove in two runs before leaving a 10-3 win over Utah Valley on Thursday with an injury.
>> Dylan Combs, Punahou ’14: The Harvard left-hander made his first two appearances of the season out of the bullpen and gave up one unearned run on two hits with five walks and three strikeouts in 41⁄3 innings for the Crimson.
>> Alika McGuire, Kamehameha ’12: The Westmont College centerfielder went 4-for-9 with three runs and two RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of The Master’s College on Saturday.
MEN’S GOLF
>> Alex Chiarella, Seabury Hall ’12: The San Diego senior closed with a 1-over 73 on Tuesday to jump two spots into a tie for 15th place at 4-over 220 at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic. Chiarella’s best round was a 70 on Monday.
>> PJ Samiere, Punahou ’14: The San Diego State sophomore shot a 75 to finish in a tie for 34th place at 10 over at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic.
>> Michael Fan, Kamehameha ’11: The Air Force senior finished in a tie for 21st place at the Jackrabbit Invitational on March 8 after shooting rounds of 75, 73 and 74 to finish at 6-over 222 for the tournament.
>> John Oda, Moanalua ’14: The UNLV sophomore tied two other Rebels teammates for 27th place at 7-over 223 at the Southern Highlands Collegiate that ended on March 9.
>> Lorens Chan, ‘Iolani ’12: The UCLA senior opened with his best round of the tournament, a 4-over 76, and finished in a tie for 69th place at 20 over at the Southern Highlands Collegiate.
WOMEN’S GOLF
>> Taylor Viquelia, Kauai ’13: The Southern Utah junior was one of three golfers not to shoot over par in the final round of the BYU at Entrada Classic on Tuesday, closing with an even-par 72 to finish in second place, two shots behind the winner, at 2 over for the tournament. Viquelia opened with a 2-under 70 on Monday to share the first-round lead but was 4 over in round 2.
>> Rose Huang, ‘Iolani ’15: The Brigham Young freshman closed with a 3-over 75 to finish all alone in sixth place at 6-over 222 at the BYU at Entrada Classic. A week earlier, she finished in second place at the rain-shortened Bay Area Intercollegiate after closing with a 5-under 67 to finish at 3 under.
>> Brittany Fan, Kamehameha ’14: The Colorado sophomore placed third at the Bay Area Intercollegiate, shooting rounds of 72 and 70 to finish at 2 under.
>> Marissa Chow, ‘Iolani ’12: The Pepperdine senior finished tied for eighth place at the Bay Area Intercollegiate. Chow picked up her 16th career top-10 with consecutive rounds of 1-over 73 to finish at 2 over.
>> Ciera Min, Waiakea ’13: The Gonzaga junior posted her best round of the spring with a 2-over 74 to finish in a tie for 32nd place at 8 over at the Bay Area Intercollegiate.
>> Monique Ishikawa, Kalaheo ’12: The Columbia University senior finished in a tie for 76th overall after a 80-79-82—241 (+25) at the Notre Dame Clover Cup on Sunday.
MEN’S GYMNASTICS
>> Joshua Yee, Thompson Academy ’12: The Oklahoma senior finished in second place on the horizontal bar with a 15.3 and fourth on the pommel with a 14.850 in Friday’s win over Ohio State and Air Force.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
>> Kristi Hayashida, Home-schooled ’13: The Seattle Pacific junior finished in first place on the beam with a personal-best 9.90 in a loss to Washington on Monday. She’s only the 12th gymnast to score that high on any event in school history and also scored a 9.37 on the floor exercise and a 9.5 on vault.
>> Tracie Villanueva, Moanalua ’13: The Seattle Pacific junior scored a 9.675 on bars and a 9.05 on beam against the Huskies.
>> Joey Ching, Punahou ’12: The Air Force senior scored a 9.40 on the floor exercise in a loss to Alaska-Anchorage on Sunday.
SOFTBALL
>> Kirstyn Namba, ‘Iolani ’12: The Utah State senior outfielder finished 8-for-19 with two doubles, a triple, two homers, five runs scored and four RBIs in five games as the Aggies finished 4-1 at the Rebel Classic.
>> Mysha Sataraka, Punahou ’12: The UCLA third baseman finished 4-for-11 with two doubles, a triple, three walks, two runs and five RBIs in four games to help the Bruins go undefeated in the Long Beach Louisville Slugger Invitational over the weekend.
>> Mikela Manewa, Kapolei ’12: The Oregon State second baseman finished 4-for-11 with five walks, a double, four runs and four RBIs to help the Beavers go 4-0 at the Matador Classic over the weekend.
>> Krystin Kubo, Leilehua ’12: The Weber State first baseman finished 4-for-11 with two doubles, a homer and two RBIs to help the Wildcats finish 2-2 at the Fresno State Classic over the weekend.
>> Kimberlee Souza, ‘Iolani ’11: The Washington senior catcher went 4-for-8 with a double, a walk and three RBIs to help the Huskies go 3-0 at the Fresno State Classic.
>> Taylor Ann Oda, Mid-Pacific ’14: The Shorter (Fla.) University catcher went 2-for-7 with a double, a triple, two runs and two RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Florida Tech on March 8.
WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
>> Mary Eccles, Leilehua ’14: The MIT sophomore finished in 10th place in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:31.00 at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
>> Michael Fisher, Hawaii Baptist ’13: The UCLA junior outside hitter hit .516 with a match-high 17 kills, six digs, three block assists and an assist in a sweep of Concordia Irvine on Friday.
>> Micah Ma’a, Punahou ’15: The Punahou freshman had a match-high 30 assists, five digs, two block assists, two kills and two aces against Concordia Irvine.
>> Gabriel Vega, ‘Iolani ’12: The Stanford redshirt junior put down a team-high 16 kills, seven digs, four block assists, a solo block and two assists in a five-set loss to Pepperdine on Saturday.
>> Evan Enriques, Kamehameha-Hawaii ’14: The Stanford sophomore had a team-high 11 digs and three assists against the Waves.
>> Emmett Enriques, Kamehameha-Hawaii ’15: The Cal Baptist freshman libero had nine digs and two assists in a four-set win over Harvard on Monday.
>> Rocky DeLyon, Seabury Hall ’12: The Cal Baptist senior outside hitter had nine kills, four digs, three block assists and an ace against the Crimson.
>> Kai Bernier-Chen, Hawaii Prep ’12: The Bard College (N.Y.) senior libero had 13 assists, two solo blocks, two block assists, two digs and an ace in a sweep of Lesley on Saturday.
>> Jared Shirai, Kaimuki ’01: The Hope International (Calif.) setter had 28 assists, a dig and an ace in a four-set win over California Merced on Saturday.
>> Patrick Pascual, Damien ’14: The UC Merced sophomore had three digs against Hope International.
>> Silila Tucker, Kalaheo ’13: The Graceland (Mo.) junior had a triple-double with 21 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs to go along with two block assists and an ace in a sweep of Morningside College on Saturday.
>> Chris Roxburgh, Kohala ’12: The Graceland senior middle had four kills, a block assist and an ace against Morningside College.
>> DJ Wong, Kohala ’12: The Graceland senior had a team-high 11 digs and six assists against Morningside.
>> Kui Aikau-Osurman, Kamehameha ’12: The Grand View (Iowa) senior setter had a match-high 32 assists, seven digs, a kill and an ace in a sweep of Durdt College last Wednesday.
Compiled by the Star-Advertiser’s Billy Hull. To submit an athlete for publication, email bhull@staradvertiser.com