Kamehameha’s Kysen Terukina closed one chapter in his wrestling life and will start another when he gets to college.
From a family of successful Ewa Beach wrestlers, Terukina is now the only one from his clan to do the special and rare high school deal. On Saturday, Terukina held on to defeat Saint Louis’ Elijah Kaawa in the 132-pound final at the Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships, to win a title for the fourth time. He is the sixth boy in Hawaii history to do so.
“I’m just so relieved it’s over,” said Terukina, who upped the state trophy haul among himself, his father, his uncle and his three brothers to 16. “It’s been on my mind for a while. Now it’s in the past and I just feel so happy. It’s literally the moment I’ve been waiting for since my freshman year, just knowing every year, I gotta keep winning, keep winning, and it’s finally done … until the next level, though.”
>> PHOTOS: State wrestling: Day 2 championship matches
Terukina will be off to college next season, and at this point Iowa State is his top choice, but that could change.
Terukina, who is No. 1 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser pound-for-pound rankings, was also part of the Warriors’ team victory for the second year in a row, and the school now has seven koa trophies. They scored 207.5 points and were followed in the standings by Punahou with 165.
>> VIDEOS: Watch all 28 finals matches
Kanai Tapia (No. 4 p4p), Brant Porter (No. 5 p4p) and Manaia Wolfgramm gave Kamehameha big points, too.
Tapia dropped two-time reigning state champion Branden Pagurayan (No. 2 p4p) 3-2 in the 152 final, and Porter beat Lahainaluna’s Kanoa Lanoza 12-0 at 126. Wolfgramm, meanwhile, secured a pin in the 170 final over Saint Louis’ Boston Opetia
“I was pretty tired,” Tapia said about his grueling match against Pagurayan. “He was pretty tired. Props to him. We were going back and forth. It’s all for the team. We’re team champs two times in a row and that’s really special because not many people do that. Our boys, even the backside (of the draw) were working hard and we really earned it.”
With 47 seconds to go, Tapia scored for a 3-1 edge with a double blast. Pagurayan didn’t go down easy, flipping around with one second left for an escape to make it a one-point differential.
Baldwin’s Coby Ravida (No. 3 p4p) became a three-time state champ, edging Moanalua’s Elijah Asuncion 2-0 in the 120 final. It prevented Asuncion (No. 8 p4p) from a second state crown.
“I knew we were going to be even, a stalemate,” Ravida said. “He’s an overall good wrestler. This (third championship) is really big. I’m so proud of myself and how hard I worked and how thankful I am to my teammates, coaches, family and friends.”
Two Punahou wrestlers, Legend Matautia (No. 7 p4p, 285 pounds) and Zander Manuel (No, 9 p4p, 195), succeeded in earning a second state championship.
Seven other boys became state titlists for the first time: Waianae’s Nicholas Cordeiro (No. 10 p4p, 106 pounds), Baldwin’s Tobey Ravida (113), ‘Iolani’s Brady Hoshino (138), Moanalua’s Blaze Sumiye (145), Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Ezekiel Anahu (160), ‘Iolani’s Blaze Pascua (182), and Kaimuki’s Harry Lloyd (220).
Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestlin… by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
