Ready to Rumble: Boys 132

The 2016 Chevron Hawaii/HHSAA State Wrestling Championships begin Friday. To get you ready, we will preview the matchups in each weight class for both boys and girls.

FIRST ROUND
Terukina def. Wallace Tavares, 1:56
Pangelinan def. Farin, 10-9
Ruiz def. Espanto, 1:03
Estrella def. Montes, 16-7
Dameg def. Morante, 5-4
Fong def Transfiguracion, 1:18
Angelo def. Diaz, 1:15
Ilaban-Totten def. Graycochea, 4:44

QUARTERFINALS
Terukina def. Pangelinan, 18-3
Ruiz def. Estrella, technical fall, 17-1
Fong def. Dameg, 5:12
Ilaban-Totten def. Angelo, major decision, 8-0

Everyone wants to see Terukina vs. Ilaban-Totten again, but with this stacked bracket it’s no guarantee. The only possible way it could get tougher is if you throw Teshya Alo in there.

Blaysen Terukina, Kamehameha
vs.
Classyc-Styles Wallace-Tavares, Radford

Steven Pangelinan, Campbell
vs.
Joshua Farin, Baldwin

Nothing ever comes easy for Terukina, but this quad should give him some relief. He is the only state placer among them and the defending champion. He has placed at states three times already and finished in the top three each time, making him 3-0 under the lights. He began his season at Officials, where he tore through the bracket before beating Ilaban-Totten 5-4 in the night’s most anticipated matchup. After losing to Punahou’s Cameron Kato for his only loss, he rebounded to take his fourth ILH title, something no Terukina has ever accomplished. If Wallace-Tavares can somehow trip him up, it would be one of the biggest upsets in state history. Pangelinan has the edge over Farin in the other match, if only for his sixth place at Officials while Farin didn’t get going until January.

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Noah Espanto, Waimea
vs.
Antonio Ruiz, Moanalua

Jacob Montes, Mid-Pacific
vs.
Kaau Estrella, KS-Hawaii

Ruiz is a two time state placer and very dangerous, in most other brackets he would be the man to beat. He placed third at MIT and did the same at Officials, coming in behind Fong in the former and the state champs in the latter. He pushed Ilaban-Totten before losing 12-11 and won narrowly over Fong in that tournament. Espanto will have his hands full, Waimea has never had a boy finish above sixth but they had one in each of the last two years after never having one before. Estrella is the BIIF champ and his seed doesn’t matter much in such a stacked bracket. Montes is just another guy, but he has hope of seeing Ruiz if only because he survived the ILH wars every week.

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Demytri Demag, Lanai
vs.
Donovan Morante, Leilehua

Brad Transfiguracion, Keaau
vs.
Joseph Fong, University

Morante finished fifth at Officials and improved greatly after that, taking the OIA West and finishing fourth in the OIA championships after a close 2-0 loss to Ruiz and an 8-1 loss to Pangelinan. Demag could bring Lanai a state placer in successive years for the first time in school history. Transfiguracion is another in the long line of Transfiguracions at the state tournament hut he would be the first to place since Reynell in 2007. Morante’s improvement notwithstanding, Fong is the class of this quad. He reached the state final last year but was outclassed and pinned by Ilaban-Totten in the first period. He was second to the Hurricane to lead off the season at MITand slipped to fourth at Officials behind Terukina, Ilaban-Totten and Ruiz. Fong predictably finished second to Terukina at ILH.

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David Diaz, Waiakea
vs.
Jake Angelo, Iolani

Kealohi Graycochea, Kahuku
vs.
Shandon Ilaban Totten, Kapolei

Waiakea has had a state placer every year since 2010 and might have a tough match with Angelo, who finished third in the ILH but will have the added motivation of needing points for his team. He will probably have to get them on the back side, though, as Ilaban-Totten looms if he can win. Ilaban-Totten is a defending state champion and placed fourth the previous year and has been one of the state’s best for more than a year. The three-time OIA champ started his season by beating Fong for the MIT title, then pinned Angelo on his way to the Officials final where he lost a close one to Terukina. He battled injuries after that and didn’t appear again until the OIA championships, where he took it for the third straight time. Graycochea’s window for beating Ilaban-Totten may have closed, but he did push Ruiz last week and looked unbeatable on the back side until a close loss to Morante.