LIHUE — Students from local mixed martial arts school Lions MMA based in Lihue competed at the NAGA (North American Grappling Association) Hawaii Grappling Championship this past weekend at Radford High School in Honolulu.
The contingent from Lions MMA took home quite the medal haul from the NAGA tournament:
- Joshua Livesay-Pimental: second place, mens no-gi beginner cruiserweight; second place, mens gi white belt heavyweight
- Mckenna Lopez-Estacio: first place, mens no-gi beginner super heavyweight; second place, mens gi white belt super heavyweight
- Isaiah Kuwamura-Bacio: first place, kids no-gi beginner 60-69.9-pound 9-year-olds; third place, kids gi beginner 60-69.9-pound 9- to 10-year-olds
- Kaikea Kuwamura Duclayan: first place, kids no-gi beginner 60-69.9-pound 10- to 12-year-olds; first place, kids gi beginner 60-69.9-pound 10- to 12-year-olds
- Kessyn Kuwamura-Silva Costa Brum: first place, kids no-gi beginner 80-89.9-pound 9- to 10-year-olds; second place, kids gi beginner 80-89.9-pound 10- to 11-year-olds
- Kenji Ishida, second place, kids gi beginner 70-79.9-pound 10- to 11-year-olds
- Jaiden Ogata: second place, teens no-gi intermediate middleweight 17-year-olds; second place, teens gi intermediate middleweight 17-year-olds
- Kaisen Taniguchi-Duclayan: second place, teens no-gi beginner light heavyweight 16-year-olds; second place, teens gi beginner light heavyweight 16- to 17-year-olds
- Janessa Llego-Finney: first place, teen girls no-gi beginner lightweight 14- to 15-year-olds; second place, teen girls gi beginner lightweight 15- to 16-year-olds; first place, teen girls gi beginner welterweight 15- to 17-year-olds
“I feel great of how I did,” said Livesay-Pimental, who won a couple of silver medals. “You always get that urge and feel that you can do better, but it’s always a learning experience. Just take whatever you get, run with it and learn from it. From this experience, I definitely know for the next tournament my weaknesses and my strengths. Overall, the NAGA tournament was awesome.”
Livesay-Pimental, a Honolulu native who recently moved to Kauai, has only studied at the school for a couple of months.
This was his first tournament.
“I feel good. You always shoot for the gold, but you always accept what you get,” he said. “For me, silver is just as good as gold. I cannot complain about it.”
Llego-Finney, 15, has been studying at the school for about a year.
She added she has competed at a few previous tournaments, but this was the first time she’s won a gold medal — let alone two.
She also won a silver medal on Saturday.
“It felt pretty cool, I guess,” Llego-Finney said. “I get to feel on top, to get first place. … It felt good having my coach watch me and everyone support me.”
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
