Punahou’s 26-year reign atop Hawaii high school boys tennis came to an end.
‘Iolani collected 17 team points over the course of the 2017 HMSA/HHSAA State Tennis Championships, claiming the team title at the Royal Lahaina Tennis Ranch and Kapalua Tennis Garden. Punahou was second with nine.
On the girls side, Punahou kept its streak going, claiming its 15th straight team championship. The Buffanblu racked up 24 points, far ahead of second-place Waiakea, which had seven.
In the boys singles championship, Farrington’s Andre Ilagan defeated Ryo Minakata of Hawaii Prep 6-2, 6-1. In each of the previous two seasons, Ilagan lost to the eventual state champion. In 2016, Ilagan lost in the title match to ‘Iolani’s Phuc Huynh, and in 2015 he fell in the quarterfinals to Punahou’s Kawika Lam. Ilagan, a junior, is the first state champion in tennis from Farrington.
The girls singles championship saw a rematch of last year’s semifinals between Punahou’s Katreina Corpuz and St. Francis’ Taylor Lau. Corpuz, the top seed this year, avenged her loss to Lau last season, taking home her first state title 7-5, 6-3.
In the boys doubles title match, both finalists had players trying to take home a second state championship. Mid-Pacific’s Reyn Miyagawa and Seann Esaki came in as the defending champions, while ‘Iolani’s Jordan Azuma took home a title in 2015 while paired with Huynh. Azuma, now paired with Joey Hu, took down Miyagawa and Esaki 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, preventing the Mid-Pacific duo from being the first back-to-back champion since 2004.
In the girls double finals, Punahou’s Clarise Huang and Betsy Wo, the tournament’s top seed, took home the title with a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Tristen Bryant-Otake and Annika Alcon of Mid-Pacific.
