High school wrestlers toil in the darkness 50 weeks of the year, but now it is time for them to come out into the light.
League and state championships will be held over the next two weeks, allowing each school’s most overlooked athletes to turn their pain into glory.
Back when I was covering the sport and got to see the athletes every week, I did something called the pound-for-pound that got parents and fans all riled up. Since I have spent a lot of my weekends taking in the action this year, let’s do it again.
It’s what newspaper columns are supposed to be for, a little healthy discussion. This time, please remember that if you approach me in the parking lot with a raised voice, I am not interested in what you have to say. Last time, a few zealots got a little too overzealous.
Nearly a decade ago I started this with Leilehua’s Liam Corbett the top boy and Teshya Alo of Kamehameha edged out Lahainaluna’s Lalelei Mataafa as the top girl. I wanted to mash them all together and put Alo and Mataafa first and second ahead of Corbett but chickened out. The genders batter each other every day in the wrestling room and Donald Trump doesn’t get a vote, so this time let’s do it right.
When you complain that I don’t know wrestling, you are completely right. I never participated in the sport, much to my father’s chagrin, but I have talked to more than a few coaches this season. With apologies to freshman phenoms like Analu Woode of Nanakuli and Hilo’s Kaloni Brown, who a lot of coaches believe can beat anyone, I need to see you win a state title before putting you on this list.
Here is one man’s pound-for-pound for Hawaii heading into the league championships, in descending order:
>> 10. Sky Ramos, Moanalua: The sophomore 100-pounder won as a freshman last year, pinning her way through the bracket before beating Emma-Grace Cabinian of Leilehua. I haven’t seen her seriously challenged since.
>> 9. Paiea Kamakaala, Kahuku: The Red Raider needed overtime and a couple of questionable calls to beat Roosevelt’s Shaynen Cabiles on Saturday but has been unstoppable at 120 pounds since surviving against Pearl City’s Irving Bicoy for the state title at 113 pounds last year as a sophomore.
>> 8. Jahlia Miguel, Baldwin: Her loss to Moanalua’s Zaira Sugui is the only time she has stumbled at states, otherwise she would be going for a slam in two weeks. She suffers from a lack of competition on Maui, but when the lights come on a Miguel always delivers.
>> 7. Zaira Sugui, Moanalua: The junior seems to be the most avoided grappler in the state, settling in at 155 pounds this year after winning states at 145 last year and pinning Miguel before falling to a senior in her first state tournament.
>> 6. Taydem Uyemura, Pearl City: The Charger missed the beginning of the season to give some hope to the girls at 140 but looks like she never left. The senior only has one state title to her credit, reaching the state final twice and losing to a pair of Kamehameha hammers before breaking through.
>> 5. Hunter Berger, Saint Louis: The junior’s slam chances are suddenly in doubt after suffering an injury during the Officials in December, but before that he was untouchable.
>> 4. Keegan Goeas, Castle: The senior only has one state title to his credit, but he utterly dominates at 165 pounds and always seeks out the best competition. He avenged a loss to Hanalani’s Xander Erolin, who was a pound-for-pound great, in last year’s state final.
>> 3. Jax Realin, Kamehameha: Two-time state champion and would be going for a slam if not for being pinned in the state final as a freshman. She is what a pound-for-pound list is all about, getting to the second period against her is a victory.
>> 2. Mikah Labuanan, Kamehameha-Maui: It doesn’t seem right that an unbeatable boy who is going for the slam is not at the top spot, but this is a year like we have never seen before. Labuanan’s only slight is strength of schedule on Maui, but Baldwin’s Niko Takitani might have stepped up to make Labuanan even better.
>> 1. Tyger Taam, Moanalua: Taam is chasing an unbeaten high school career, the first slammer since ‘Iolani’s Patrick Higa went 119-0 from 1983-1986. The other slammers — Kamehameha’s Kysen Terukina, Corey Cabanban of Saint Louis, Mid-Pacific’s Joshua Terao and Brandon Low and Jonathan Spiker of Saint Louis — suffered a loss somewhere on their journeys. Nothing says No. 1 more than that.
The top two won’t face each other this year since they are six pounds apart and the top three certainly won’t because one is a girl, so this is the best we can get unless Taam leaves his garage door open when Labuanan stops by for a visit or they meet in college next year. That’s fine, the kids will still put on a show. At least one unseeded girl has become a state champion every year since 2018 and last year was the first time since 2020 every boys champion won their league.
So if we know anything, it’s that we don’t know anything. The only people who know the work they have put in are the wrestlers themselves, now it is time to show everyone.
