WAIMEA — Kaua‘i High School wrestlers piled up the gold medals during the fourth Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation wrestling match at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea Saturday. Kaua‘i boys tallied three gold medals with its girls getting another two gold
WAIMEA — Kaua‘i High School wrestlers piled up the gold medals during the fourth Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation wrestling match at the Clem Gomes Gym in Waimea Saturday.
Kaua‘i boys tallied three gold medals with its girls getting another two gold medals. Kapa‘a wrestlers finished with two gold medals while Waimea settled for one in the matches which featured 31 wrestlers working through 37 bouts.
Marissa Hesapene and Charlie Kahepu‘u, both of Waimea, and Storm Haire, of Kapa‘a are the only three wrestlers who remain undefeated with one more match remaining before the KIF wrestling championship.
Elijah Koga of Kapa‘a, returning to the mats following a 7-week recuperation period after an injury he suffered at the Maui Invitational tournament in December, topped the 140 Pound class.
Koga opened with a win over Shawn Taguas of Kaua‘i High School by a technical fall in the second period to set the stage for the showdown with Nicholas Cariffe of Waimea, previously undefeated.
The match went quickly, Cariffe dropping by fall to Koga with 1:30 remaining in the opening round.
Taguas and Cariffe offered the crowd its money’s worth, Taguas, showing improvement during the course of the season, forcing the bout to go into overtime.
But Cariffe drew the audience to its feet with the win in the overtime period.
Similarly, Hesapene and Kaua‘i’s Elizabeth Oshiro had the audience fully involved during the 109 pound class bout.
Coach Mac Pigott of Westside Wrestling Kaua‘i, the KIF wrestling tournament director, said Oshiro, like Taguas, has shown improvement each week, and at the end of the first period, Oshiro was ahead of Hesapene on points, 4-3, scoring on a takedown and holding the Menehune cheerleader for a near fall before Hesapene escaped to score a takedown of her own.
Following a cautious second period, Oshiro still was ahead on points 6-3 following a takedown, and in the third period, Hesapene scored a flurry of points, escaping, taking Oshiro down and scoring multiple near-fall points, the clock expiring in Hesapene’s favor, 13-6.
Saturday’s KIF wrestling match moves to the Kaua‘i High School gym starting at 10 a.m.
•Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
