Terukina rises to No. 2 in boys P4P

Experience counts.

Only four senior boys are going for their fourth medal at this year’s state tournament, and all four of them are ranked in the pound-for-pound top 10. They are:

No. 1 Liam Corbett: first, second, fifth
No. 2 Blaysen Terukina: First, third, third
No. 7 Jake Nakasone: fourth, fifth, fourth
No. 10 Zack Diamond: Fourth, second, second

Judging by that, perhaps Terukina should be at the top spot. But as his summer heroics fade, the fact that he is one of only two boys to sweep MIT and Officials boosts Corbett. Waianae’s Sheldon Bailey, who is still unranked, is the other.

Corbett held onto the top spot in the most recent boys pound-for-pound rankings with his dominating performance at Officials, pinning two opponents and beating another by technical fall before overcoming Waianae’s Jacob Naosususga 9-4 in a hard-fought final.

Terukina has never finished worse than third at states and has three ILH titles to Corbett’s two OIA crowns. One thing that Terukina does have over his fellow senior is tougher competition. Terukina put his ranking on the line at Officials in a final for the ages against then-No. 3 Shandon Illaban-Totten of Kapolei. Terukina won 5-4 after destroying everyone in his path before the final. Illaban-Totten was just as impressive, pinning two opponents, one of them in just 20 seconds, before surviving Moanalua’s Antonio Ruiz 12-11.

Going through the toughest bracket of the tournament put Terukina at No. 2 and dropped Illaban-Totten a spot to No. 4. Harsh, but he doesn’t have as much of an argument as Punahou’s Cameron Kato does.

Kato, a state champion and two-time ILH boss, laid waste to his competition at 126 pounds, warming up with a 7-3 win over Iolani’s James Mizota before destroying Pac-Five’s Josh Matsumoto 25-7, pinning Campbell’s Zayren Terukina in 3:20 and wrecking ILH rival Ian Murakami 19-5 in the final.

Even after all that, he was passed up by Terukina. Harsh treatment for the only boy from Hawaii to place at JR Nationals in Greco Roman and win the Freak Show in Las Vegas.

One thing in Kato’s favor is his performance against Iolani’s Jake Nakasone, who enters the rankings at No. 7 behind teammate KJ Pascua. Nakasone was dominant at Officials and figures to be the king at 120 for the rest of the year.

The other wrestler who has placed three times is Mililani’s Zack Diamond, whose career took another wrong turn at Officials when he suffered an injury against Kaiser’s Nicholas Mair and had to withdraw. That pushed Diamond to the cusp of the rankings at No. 10, giving him yet another thing to fight through to cap a career of adversity. At his best, Diamond is the athlete who pinned Waianae’s Thaddeus O’Claray in 41 seconds. At his worst, he is on the verge of the top 10 but he is always a contender in his weight class.

Campbell’s James Sullivan probably should have been ranked all along but enters the rankings this week after pinning his way through Officials.

Boys Wrestling Pound-For-Pound Rankings

1. Liam Corbett, Leilehua (160 pounds)
Career: state champ, state second, state fifth, 2 time OIA champ.
Season: First at MIT, first at Officials
Last week: Ranked No. 1

2. Blaysen Terukina, Kamehameha (132)
Career: state champ, state third twice, three time ILH champ
Season: First at Officials over Ilaban-Totten
Last week: Ranked No. 4

3. Cameron Kato, Punahou (126)
Career: state champ, two time ILH champ.
Season: First at Officials
Last week: Ranked No. 2

4. Shandon Ilaban-Totten, Kapolei (132)
Career: state champ, state third, two time OIA
Season: First at MIT, second at Officials behind Terukina
Last week: Ranked No. 3

5. KJ Pascua, Iolani (152)
Career: state champ, state second, two time ILH champ.
Season: First at Officials
Last week: Ranked No. 5

6. Corey Cabanban, Saint Louis (106)
Career: state champ, ILH champ
Season: First at Officials
Last Week: Ranked No. 9

7. Jake Nakasone, Iolani (120)
Career: Fourth at states twice, fifth at states, ILH champion.
Season: First at Officials
Last week: Unranked

8. Thomas Stevenson, Baldwin (152)
Career: state second, state third, two time MIL
Season: First at MIT, second at Officials behind Pascua
Last week: Ranked No. 6

9. James Sullivan, Campbell (220)
Career: State second, OIA champion
Season: First at Officials
Last week: Unranked

10. Zack Diamond, Mililani (138)
Career: state fourth, state second twice, OIA champ
Season: Did not place at Officials after suffering an injury
Last week: Ranked No. 7

Also

Sheldon Bailey, Waianae (145)
Career: Third at states, OIA champion.
Season: First at MIT, first at Officials

Micah Tynanes-Perez, Campbell (195)
Career: Third at states.
Season: First at Officials

Jayson Pagurayan, Kapolei (120)
Career: State second, State third
Season: Third at Officials

Dropped out:

Triston Santos, Campbell (113)
Career: state champ, OIA champ
Season: Sixth at Officials

Connor Villarmia, Damien (170)
Career: state champ
Season: First at MIT over Waki, second at Officials behind Waki

Also considered:

Josh Gallarde, Campbell (145)
Career: Third at States, OIA champion.
Season: Second at Officials behind Inovejas

Kayson Takenaka, Iolani (138)
Career: Second at States.
Season: Fourth at Officials

Kainalu Estrella, Lahianaluna(120)
Career: Third at state, MIL champion.
Season: First at MIT, second at Officials behind Nakasone

Troy Waki, Baldwin (170)
Career: Fourth at states.
Season: Second at MIT, First at Officials

Logan Garcia, Moanalua (106)
Career: none.
Season: first at MIT, second at Officials

Dayne Torigoe, Iolani (106)
Career: none.
Season: First at Officials

Baylen Cooper, Pearl City (138)
Career: none.
Season: First at MIT, third at Officials

Justin Inovejas, Lahainaluna (145)
Career: Two MIL championships.
Season: Third at MIT, First at Officials

Jacob Naosusuga, Waianae (160)
Career: Fourth at states twice, OIA champion.
Season: Second at MIT, Second at Officials.

Saiaga Fautanu, Iolani (182)
Career: none.
Season: First at Officials.

Kanai Eldredge, Punahou (285)
Career: Fifth at states, ILH champion.
Season: First at Officials.