KEAAU — There were mega-matches, mismatches and at least potential grudge match brewing at last Saturday’s BIIF wrestling meet.
And for all the wrestlers who took a turn at the school of hard knocks, there was a quick and easy silver lining to be found: losing can be a winning proposition.
“That turns my kids’ attitude around,” Kealakehe coach Ivan Louis said. “You want them to feel that other side. They realize, ‘Oh, OK, I have to continue to work.” ’
Take Waveriders heavyweight Filipo Liufau, for instance. The freshman was pinned in his first match at Keaau High, and he said he’d use the fire created by that loss as motivation the next time. However, he didn’t necessarily like his chances when matched up against Hawaii Prep’s Ekela Livingston in the second round.
The two engaged in one of the most entertaining and high-scoring matches of the day, with Liufau eking out a 14-13 decision.
“I thought I was going to lose,” Liufau. “I was doubting myself, because he’s all muscle.
“I can’t believe I made it — one that I will never forget.”
Louis happily threw Elizabeth Warren up against Hilo High’s Lilliane Toledo, figuring the experience will make her stronger. Toledo, one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers on the island, pinned Warren twice. Toledo is likely headed down to 184 pounds to prepare for the HHSAA tournament, giving Warren a better shot to contend at 225.
Keaau coach Keith Fernandez admitted the Cougars’ Akea Cariaga had a hard time accepting his defeat to fellow sophomore Daylan Torres of Waiakea. The compelling 145-pound match had a little “spice,” the coach said, and came down to a close call.
Cariaga stewed some afterward – though he could have a chance at redemption as early as this Saturday’s meet at Pahoa High.
“Akea learned something,” Fernandez said. “You don’t learn from winning. He’s learning that personal opinions don’t matter. It’s the opinion of the referee that matters.”
The last match of the day was a crowd-pleaser in which Konawaena’s Kody Mitchell earned a hard-fought pin against Hilo High’s Paige Taasan at 138. With both sides echoing their wrestler’s name, the Vikings’ squad left the bleachers to cheer on Taasan before being shooed back by an assistant.
Mitchell finished with two pins.
“Everybody was screaming,” said Mitchell, junior “I don’t even know,” what my coaches were saying. “I was just doing it.”
Around the mat
• Hawaii Prep: Ka Makani wrestled for the first time this season and showed up with one their biggest groups in recent memory, coach Hamilton Ford said.
Jeremiah Borce is a returning BIIF champ (128) from 2020 who will likely compete at 138, while Kawela Takushi is a leader on the girls side who qualified for the HHSAA tournament two seasons ago at 117.
“There are a couple schools who have pretty big rosters, but I think we all have the same sort of problem where we’re bundled up in the middle and we’ll see who much we can sort of massage to spread (the weight classes) out,” Ford said.
“Most of our team is very fit, we don’t have a lot of weight to lose,” he said. “It’s about trying to push some of them up.”
• Waiakea
Kenji Kekela takes over at his alma mater with 12 wrestlers, down from what the Warriors have boasted in recent years.
The boys won the BIIF title two seasons ago, and Isaac Vickery is returning league champ who could compete at 170. Torres has a jiu-jitsu background that could serve him well as Waiakea tries to use him at 138, as his brother John is ticketed for 145.
For the girls, Blu Montez wrestled in the Oahu Interscholastic Association in 2020, and the Warriors would like to have her compete at 145.
“We’re just using this as a baseline for what out season is going to be, and what we need to work on,” Kekela said.
• Kealakehe
Louis is excited to finally have a feeder system in place, crediting Kealakehe Intermediate principal Janice Blaber with letting him use that school’s cafeteria as a facility.
“I tried how many times, but every year it got bashed,” he said.
The Waveriders swept the team titles in 2019, but with 10 wrestlers this season, he admitted this could be more of a developmental year.
Three girls contenders to watch are Warren, Tylanna Abraham (155) and Alextasy Navarro (127).