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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 21, 2010

Kahuku, Campbell capture OIA crowns


By Kalani Takase
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Roosevelt's Tyler Hayashi controls Campbell's Tyson Tynanes-Perez in the 189-pound final. Hayashi beat Tynanes-Perez, 7-3.

NORMAN SHAPIRO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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WAHIAWĀ — While the Kahuku girls won their fifth O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship at Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium yesterday, the Campbell boys claimed their first league crown and the first for a Western Division school since Moanalua in 1998.

The Red Raiders tallied 173 points to give them their third title in four years. Pearl City was second with 134 1/2 points, 'Aiea was third with 119 points, Campbell was fourth was 90 points and Farrington was fifth with 71 points.

"We had eight girls in the semifinals and we were able to place six of them in the (championship) final," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "I think that was the key."

The Sabers had just enough to hold off runner-up Moanalua in the boys division. Campbell amassed 167 points, while Nā Menehune had 164. Farrington (138), Pearl City (133 1/2) and Kahuku (117) rounded out the top five.

"For us, this means a lot because our kids have worked their butts off and they deserved this," Sabers' coach Mark Buelow said.

Two of the biggest individual victories came from a pair of Roosevelt Rough Riders.

Senior Tyler Hayashi and junior Marisa Fukunaga each defeated proven competitors to come out on top of the boys' 189-pound division and girls' 114-pound division.

"Tyler's success has been four years in the making and Marisa always had the will to win, but she finally put it together," Roosevelt coach Sean Sakaida said.

Hayashi, the OIA's Eastern Division champion, beat Campbell's Tyson Tynanes-Perez, 7-3, to win his first league crown.

"He's a really strong guy, so I just wanted to use more technique than strength against him," Hayashi said.

Tynanes-Perez attempted to get behind Hayashi early on, but the Roosevelt senior countered the attack and went ahead 2-0 with a takedown 35 seconds into the match. Hayashi went right into a press as the crowd began going into a frenzy, but the referee stopped the match when it appeared Tynanes-Perez hurt his right shoulder. After Tynanes-Perez was deemed OK to continue, Hayashi was awarded four near-fall points to extend his lead to 6-0.

"I wanted to finish it right then," Hayashi said of the near fall. "But (after the stoppage), I knew I had to save my energy for the rest of the match."

Tynanes-Perez closed to 6-3 after picking up an escape point and two takedown points in the second period.

Hayashi began in the down position to start the third period, but quickly escaped off the opening whistle to make it 7-3. He defended a double-leg takedown attempt by Tynanes-Perez and held on for the win.

It was the third time the two had met. They split the previous two meetings.

"I think I was more intimidated the first time, but I got over it after that," Hayashi said.

Defense was the name of the game in the girls' 114-pound final, with Fukunaga narrowly edging Kalani's Megan Yamaguchi, 2-1.

The first period ended in a scoreless tie before Fukunaga began the second in the top position. Yamaguchi managed an escape just 20 seconds into the period to take a 1-0 lead. The Falcons senior showed tremendous takedown defense in denying Fukunaga to hold the lead after two periods.

"It's kind of hard when you face a bigger opponent, because she's stronger, so you have to really set things up and you have to pick and choose your shots a little bit more," Fukunaga said of Yamaguchi, who won the OIA title at 120 pounds last season. "There's not really any room for mistakes, because you can get caught on those."

Fukunaga moved up from 108 pounds, where she finished second in the state last year.

Yamaguchi, beginning from the top position in the third period, was given her second warning for stalling in the match, which gave Fukunaga the tying point with about 1:30 to play.

Fukunaga remained in the down position from a restart with 36 seconds left before getting to her feet and escaping from Yamaguchi's grasp with 13 seconds left to go ahead, 2-1. Yamaguchi charged hard at Fukunaga in the closing seconds, but could not score before the ending buzzer.

"I just thought to myself that this is one of the big tournaments that we have in the season and I knew that I just needed one escape point," Fukunaga said.

It was the fourth meeting between the wrestlers this season, with Fukunaga winning three times. Yamaguchi won the last meeting two weeks ago in the finals of the OIA Eastern Division championships.

The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association/Chevron Wrestling State Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at the Blaisdell Arena.