Wrestling

As a three-time state champion, Lahainaluna senior Nanea Estrella is the presumptive heir to Kelani Corbett‘s top spot in Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound wrestling rankings. After this week, though, that honor will seem like small potatoes. Estrella was judged the top female wrestler in the nation at 122 pounds, jumping over No. 2 Alexys Zepeda of Gervais, Ore. Estrella finished last year ranked fourth at 127 pounds before embarking on an eventful summer that included titles all over the continent. […]

Hawaii’s top male wrestler will start the season just outside a national top 10. Kamehameha’s Kysen Terukina is currently No. 12 in the nation at 126 pounds by flowrestling.com. Terukina, who will be going for the rare career slam in Hawaii this winter, was ranked as high as No. 8 at 120 pounds by the web site in February and finished the season No. 11 at 126 behind seven graduating seniors. He was ranked No. 1 in Hawaii Prep World’s […]

Kamehameha junior Skye Realin won gold in her first international wrestling competition representing Team USA when she won in the 14-16 age group in the 2019 Cadet Pan American Championships on Saturday in Morelia, Mexico. Realin, competing at 57 kilograms, overcame a 6-5 decision loss in her opener with four straight victories, avenging the loss to Chile’s Antonia Valdez Arriagada with a 4-3 decision in the final. The state runner-up at 127 pounds last season as a sophomore, Realin earned […]

Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Keith Laeha broke new ground for Hawaii wrestling on the national stagee recently. He was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association assistant coach of the year, the first time an honor has been bestowed upon someone from Hawaii. “Keith was recognized for his (more than) 40 years of service and dedication to the sport,” said Alfred Torres, a Radford wrestling coach who once coached Laeha at Kamehameha. “I’m very proud to say Keith is a former wrestler of mine.” […]

Kamehameha wrestling coaches Rob Hesia and Fallyn Kapoi were named Hawaii’s top girls coaches by the national wrestling organization recently. It is the first year the award has been given out. Hesia, the Kamehameha head coach, and Kamehameha-Hawaii assistant Keith Laeha were voted the region’s best boys coaches, the first time in the organization’s history that the top coaches in the region came from Hawaii. They are now eligible for sectional awards. The Warriors swept boys and girls state championships […]

Hawaii’s Tiare Ikei won the 53-kilogram (116-pound) gold medal at the 2019 U.S. Open Senior Women’s Championship in Las Vegas on Friday. It was Ikei’s first senior-level national tournament. She went undefeated with two tech falls and a pin en route to not only the gold, but also the honor of outstanding women’s wrestler of the tournament. She is a former Hawaii Technology Academy student and the 2018 112-pound state wrestling champion for the Kaiser Cougars. In the opener, Ikei […]