BY WAYNE JOSEPH | STEPHENS MEDIA ADVERTISING KEAAU — Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Megan Aina turned 18 on Saturday. To celebrate, she helped gift-wrap another league wrestling title for the Warriors. Aina’s birthday ended like most of her meets do: in celebration. She
BY WAYNE JOSEPH | STEPHENS MEDIA
KEAAU — Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Megan Aina turned 18 on Saturday. To celebrate, she helped gift-wrap another league wrestling title for the Warriors.
Aina’s birthday ended like most of her meets do: in celebration. She claimed her fourth Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship with a win at Paiea Gym.
“This is a very crazy birthday for me,” Aina said. “It is a really big accomplishment in my life, and I’m so proud to be part of our team for all four years.”
Kamehameha captured its third straight girls crown and fifth in six years.
“Winning a team title is all our girls have been talking about for the past two weeks,” coach Marlon Miller said. “I think our biggest advantage is our experience on the mat. We have lots of seniors who will be sorely missed.
“It takes the entire team to win a championship. It’s not about the coaches; it’s entirely about the girls who were on the mat.”
In the boys competition, Waiakea defended its title.
Six out of the eight Kamehameha girls to make the finals won their matches by pin: Aina (108 pounds), Kanoe Padaken (108), Phoebe Oda (120), Chantel Pohina (130), Jasmine Uta (155) and Wilna Tong (175).
“Many of these girls were with us for all three championships, which makes this one extra sweet,” Miller said.
The other Warriors to fill weight classes and make contributions, according to Miller, were Nellie Towata (98), Sadie Arakaki (114), Noelle Pohina (125), Alexia Osburn (140) and Ciarra Lynn Parinas (220).
“(Phoebe Oda) was in one of the toughest weight divisions, and she went undefeated during the season,” Miller said. “She’s a natural leader who pushes everyone on our team to their fullest potential.”
Aina ended her BIIF career with an undefeated season, but her match against Waiakea’s Cara Nakayama in the final was no walkover.
Nakayama was winning 4-2 going in the second round when Aina used her favorite move, the chicken wing, to get the pin. Padaken and Chantel Pohina also capped undefeated seasons.
Waiakea placed eight boys in the finals and two in the consolation bracket to secure enough team points to narrowly eclipse Kamehameha.
“Every one of these guys helped us get here,” coach Stan Haraguchi said. “We are young with lots of sophomores and juniors, but we came into the championships confident and humble. It takes an entire team effort to win a title, and everyone from our coaches to our parents helped us get here.
“We came in with the right mentality and jelled at the right time. Everyone just worked together and blended well.”
Waiakea’s Pat Enos dominated the 152 division all season and ended his season with an unblemished mark, winning all three of his matches in the championships by pin.
“It feels awesome to win two straight team titles,” Enos said. “Nobody in the league thought that we could win the title, because we are so young, but we pulled it out.”
Teammate William Spain, a 108-pound sophomore, won his first two matches to earn a spot in the finals before dropping his final to Konawaena’s Justin Raymond, a two-time BIIF champion.
“I think last year winning the team title was really good, but this year it is extra special for us since we have so many young guys,” Spain said. “This is a new team, and we really stepped up because we knew we could do it.”
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