Hawaii wrestlers show off fighting spirit

Clarissa Chun couldn’t wait to see who was going to win the Fighting Spirit Award on Thursday at the Pa‘ani Challenge girls wrestling tournament.

“That’s my favorite one because it shows how much heart you have inside of you,” the two-time Olympian said while pointing to her own heart.

And so it’s doubtful that Chun — a two-time state champion from Roosevelt who ran a clinic Wednesday to kick off the two-day event at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse — is disappointed in the selection of Kapolei’s Alyandina Bushe for that award.

On Thursday, Bushe made it to the 168-pound final, where she was pinned by Baldwin’s Shayna Kamaka. But that’s the beauty of having a relentless attitude no matter what — it’s understood that winning isn’t nearly as important as effort.

It turns out that wrestling was only part of the reason Bushe was honored. She had a cousin who committed suicide four years ago, so the Kapolei grappler got involved in spreading positive words to other students, teachers and the community at large during the Christmas season.

“You are valuable … you are worth it … never give up,” Bushe wrote on notes attached to candy canes that she gave out to every student and many teachers and other workers at Kapolei High. “I want everyone to feel that someone cares about them because I know this world is kinda crazy and I just want someone to know that someone cares.”

The candy canes — in honor of Bushe’s cousin — were also given out at Nanakuli High and Waianae Elementary and at a holiday parade in Kapolei.

The Pa‘ani Challenge, the largest all-girls tournament in the country, had its share of on-the-mat drama Thursday.

In one of the most highly anticipated matches, Kamehameha’s Paige Respicio proved that her win at the Officials tournament in December was not a fluke. She pinned Lahainaluna’s Kauanoe Keahi for the Pa‘ani 138-pound title, and in the semifinals one match earlier, she topped Jahnea Miguel of Baldwin 7-3.

For those who are counting, that’s two straight wins over state champions — Keahi and Miguel won state crowns last year at 138 and 127 pounds.

Respicio knows there are bigger things on the horizon, so she didn’t put too much stock in her last two tournament victories.

“It’s just another practice for states,” she said.

The combatants at 107 pounds were Lahainaluna teammates, with Sami Saribay outdueling reigning 97-pound state champion Ira Navarro 2-1. They’ve been training partners for the past few years. Both earned an escape in the match, but Saribay won after Navarro was first warned and then later lost a point for stalling.

“She usually beats me, she’s unbelievable,” said Saribay, who was competing in her normal weight class, about Navarro, Hawaiiprepworld.com’s No. 4 pound-for-pound wrestler who moved up from 102 for the tournament. “I did beat her at Officials freshman year.”

When asked if she’s going hard for her own state title, with conviction Saribay said, “Yup.”

At 112 pounds, Kaiser’s Tiare Ikei (No. 8 p4p) had a relatively easy time pinning Leilehua’s Shantelle Mangrobang, who breezed through her side of the bracket with multiple pins.

Lahainaluna’s Nanea Estrella (No. 7 p4p) followed her Officials tourney win with a Pa‘ani championship. She teched two-time state placer Roselynn Ikei of Kaiser in the semifinals before pinning Moanalua’s Gabrielle Perez in the final.

Two others with top-notch credentials, two-time state placers Zion Grace Vierra of Kamehameha and Taylor Peligrino Hayase of Lahainaluna, secured Pa‘ani titles.

Vierra outlasted Molokai’s Sunni Chow 7-5 in the 155-pound final, and Peligrino Hayase pinned Campbell’s Iwi Kinimaka in the 145 final.

It was the third tournament win in a row for Peligrino Hayase.

“At Officials, I won, but not the way I wanted to,” she said. “My opponent was disqualified for hitting me. On Maui (Garner Ivey tournament), I placed first, and I had never won that tournament before, so that was really good for me. This tournament, my dad told me to go out and wrestle for myself. I think I did what I was supposed to do. States is the one that counts. This is just all practice.”

For Vierra, the small margin of victory was a shock.

“I need to be more conditioned,” she said. “I work on it, but not enough. I need to go the extra mile.”