For one coach, it was a goal achieved. For another, it was just another win.
Both are hoping for more down the line after victories in the OIA dual-meet wrestling championships at Campbell on Saturday.
For Sean Salter, the Kapolei boys wrestling head man and his Hurricanes team, it was time for rejoicing and jumping up and down after a 39-36 come-from-behind victory over Waianae.
The west-side rival Seasiders led 18-0 early and then were up 36-33 with one match left.
That’s when Kapolei’s Atalbert DeBrum stepped up and pinned Waianae’s Andrew Bushong at 5:35 in the 120-pound division. It was a close match, tied at 2-2 and 4-4. DeBrum took the lead for good at 6-4 and got it as high as 10-5 before the pin.
“For him, it was huge,” Salter said about DeBrum’s performance. “He hadn’t been on the mat for three weeks. He only got on the mat on Wednesday for the first time. We didn’t know what we were going to see out of him. He went out there, wrestled his heart out, was in some bad positions and still came through. If he loses, we lose. Real simple.”
DeBrum’s six points for that pin was the final difference.
Pins by Branden Pagurayan (152) and Tim Uriam (160) started to bring the Hurricanes back from the 18-point deficit. Teammate Kilohana Swanson won a tough battle at 170, 12-10 over Waianae’s Vanderlei Young to keep Kapolei in it, and Billy Makaila (195) and Rafael Leapaga (285) also won by pin to help nail it down.
“This was our first goal of the season.” Salter said. “We’re 1-for-1. Our second goal is to win the OIA (individual) championships in two weeks. Hopefully, we get all the kids healthy and on the mat some more and it turns into goal number two.”
After that, the state championships will roll around in mid-February for all of Hawaii’s wrestling teams.
For Sean Sakaida, the Moanalua girls coach, Saturday’s 45-27 win over Mililani for the OIA girls team title was basically another day on the mat.
“For us, we don’t really care that much about (the team championship),” he said. “We treat it like it’s a regular tournament. But I know my girls are motivated, especially against Mililani. They beat us twice this year, so they wanted it badly. I try to keep them calm and treat it like it’s a regular tournament, but they really wanted it.”
Moanalua got victories by fall from Rachel Oshita (132 pounds), Kayla Antolin (168) and Chloe Yuen (184). In addition, Caitlin Yap (97) won when her opponent, Erin Hikiji of the Trojans, made an illegal throw. Na Menehune’s Isabelle Asuncion added to her team’s winning total with a 3-2 decision over Mililani’s Kennedy Javier.
Yuen’s pin — over the Trojans’ Jacinta Fonoti — came while she was trailing 5-2.
“Chloe wanted it badly,” Sakaida said. “She said, ‘I gotta avenge all of my losses.’ Yeah, I told her, that’s the way you gotta look at it.”
In another tight one, the Trojans got the 107-pound victory when Angelina Calpito, trailing 8-4, secured a pin over Moanalua’s Miya Juhn with just four seconds left on the clock.
