Roxie Umu isn’t just one of Kealakehe’s top wrestlers, but she’s a one-woman pep squad as well.
Roxie Umu isn’t just one of Kealakehe’s top wrestlers, but she’s a one-woman pep squad as well.
At a midseason BIIF meet at Keaau, even as Umu was preparing for one of her matches, she walked through the training area on the far side of the stands and shouted her encouragement when one of her teammates, say Maimiti Otare, was ready to take to the mat.
“Maimiti Otare, 1-2-3,” Umu yelled.
“Maimiti Otare,” the Waveriders’ faithful returned.
“It’s just a way for us to show support,” Kealakehe coach Ivan Louis said.
On Friday and Saturday in Honolulu, the Waveriders may have a chance to return the favor to Umu. Of the 28 BIIF champions converging on Neal Blaisdell Center for the HHSAA championships, Umu is the only top seed, drawing a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals in the 225-pound weight class.
She was fourth last season, losing to the eventual champion, then-senior Lalelei Mataafa of Lahainaluna. in the semifinals. This year, she needs to go 3-0 to grab gold.
“I just tell my kids that it’s the one in front of you that’s the only one that is important,” Louis said.
Fresh off Kealakehe sweeping the boys and girls BIIF crowns, the third-year coach attended the state seeding meeting. As usual, BIIF wrestlers drew mostly unfavorable pairings, especially on the boys side.
Of the 14 BIIF champions, 10 were slotted in as Nos. 4 seeds, with Waiakea’s Waylon Spain (113), Kealakehe’s Elison Galanto (126) and Malsoi Abrahama (182) and Hilo’s Chris Kuboto getting third seeds.
“Honolulu has a lot of good wrestlers,” Louis said. “Our league is smaller and getting better.
“At some point, the seedings become a shot in the dark.”
The BIIF hasn’t produced a gold medallist at the last three state tournaments. Kamehameha’s Kayla Ararki took third last season, and the four-time BIIF champion drew a No. 2 seed at 155, as did Keaau’s Ivory Ayers at 168. Neither Araki nor Ayers, who owns three BIIF golds and took sixth in 2016 on Oahu, have a bye in their full 16-wrestler brackets
Another top contender for Kealakehe is three-time BIIF champion Charlotte Taylor, who was fourth last season at states. But unlike Umu’s fresh-faced division, the top two finishers return in the 112 class, so Taylor got a third seed – along with Waiakea’s Gracie Miranda (97), Kamehameha’s Kasey Pule (127), Kealakehe’s Gionne Aniban-Morse (132) and Otare (184).
After finishing runner-up to Kealakehe in both divisions, Kamehameha will send 22 wrestlers to states with an equal amount of boys and girls.
Louis is taking 19 wrestlers to Oahu and is hoping to catch magic for the second consecutive Saturday.
“For me, it was a great experience going up against good competition and sweeping,” he said. “Kamehameha was awesome, and to beat them was exciting.”