PUHI — Kapa‘a High School wrestlers topped the second week of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation wrestling at the Island School gym Saturday.
In the lead, the Warrior grapplers picked up three gold medals to Waimea’s two and Kaua‘i’s one, the Red Raiders settling for four silver medals and a pair of bronze medals.
Kapa‘a, in addition to its three golds, finished with a bronze medal in its winnings. Waimea finished with a pair of silver medals and a bronze in addition to its two gold medals, and Island School ended with a pair of bronze medals.
Marissa Hesapene of Waimea topped the Girls 117 division for the second straight week.
Relying on her prowess at pins, Hesapene, after working three pins last week, continued, making short work of a Kaua‘i opponent with an early pin during an exhibition matchup.
Johnna “Kapili” Akana of Waimea, working on a tough match against Kaisa Ishikawa of Kaua‘i, survived a third round comeback by Ishikawa to advance and face Elizabeth Oshiro for second place, Oshiro taking the match on points for second, placing Akana in third.
Bryson Yoro of Kaua‘i also picked up his second straight win in the 130-pound class, getting past Waimea’s Fa‘a Tofua for the runner-up berth for the second straight week.
Coach Mac Pigott, tournament director for the KIF wrestling, said Tofua improved from his last week’s bout when he was pinned by Yoro in the first round.
“After the first period, Bryson was up 9-7 in a tough back-and-forth battle,” Pigott said in an email. “Fa‘a fought back in the second round, giving up near-fall points before earning an escape point for a 12-8 nod in favor of Bryson. The third round started with Fa‘a again fighting off his back, and after twice giving up near-fall points, brought the crowd to its feet by reversing the position and having Bryson in a near-fall predicament.”
Fa‘a was working for the pin as time ran out, Yoro taking the win on a final score of 17-13. Tafua ended in second place after defeating Kaua‘i’s Keenan Kaya, vanquished to the runner-up battle after losing to Yoro in the finals, who finished third.
Waimea’s Nicholas Cariffe also picked up his second straight win in the Boys 140-pound division after defeating Kaua‘i’s Shawn Taguas in the finals. Taguas went on to down Ryland Santos of Island School in the battle for second, Santos settling for a bronze medal in the division.
“Cariffe looks to be one of the most dominant wrestlers in the KIF following two weeks,” Pigott said. “However, Kapa‘a’s Elijah Koga is still recovering from injuries and may have an opportunity to put a wrinkle in Cariffe’s record before the season is over.”
Taguas, in his battle for second, was pinned last week, but this week, tied with Cariffe following the first round after Cariffe scored a takedown and Taguas earned a reversal.
The second round was a near deadlock, but Cariffe scored a reversal for the 4-2 go-ahead at the end of the round. Taguas earned a point for stalling against Cariffe to open the final round, but the Waimea grappler responded with a 2-point reversal leading to the 6-3 final.
Ronnie Perono of Kapa‘a made fast work of Waimea’s Ikaika Vidinha and Island School’s David Caminos to claim the top spot in the Boys 152-pound division. Vidinha claimed the silver with a second period fall over Caminos.
Top seeded Storm Haire of Kapa‘a put on “a clinic of technical wrestling” to win over Waimea’s Kala Dusenberry Lee, 12-3 in the finals of the Boys 160-pound division, which was stacked with wrestlers due to Haire moving up two weight classes from last week and Kaua‘i’s Nick Gabriel moving up a weight class to join his brother Mike Gabriel.
Kapa‘a’s Jeremiah Obrero, opening with a win over Waimea’s Kevin Acob, picked up his second straight win in the Boys 189-pound weight class with a defeat of Kaua‘i’s Kapono Lopes in the finals.
Waimea’s Charlie Kahepu‘u remains undefeated following two weeks of wrestling, taking the heavyweight division over Kapa‘a’s Steven McCabe and Waimea’s Ian Garcia. Kaua‘i’s Hanale Reynolds finished second to Kahepu‘u for the second straight week.
KIF wrestling moves to the Bernice Hundley Gym in Kapa‘a this Saturday with the first matches getting under way starting at 10 a.m.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
