Boys wrestling champions

DANIEL FURUTO

103 pounds • Punahou • Sophomore

Furuto weighed 77 pounds when he started wrestling four years ago. Now grown up to 5 feet 2 and 103, his resume includes Interscholastic League of Honolulu intermediate division championships in 7th, 8th and 9th grades, also JV champ in 9th grade and the ILH varsity and state titles this year, as a sophomore. He will earn his Eagle Scout rank this summer.

KRIS WONG

112 pounds • ‘Iolani • Senior

In the last two seconds of his final high school match, Wong fought off a double leg ride for a reversal to break a 5-5 tie. He had led 5-0 entering the third round, but a reversal and near-fall tied the score. "I almost panicked when I was on my back and heard the ref counting, 1 ... 2 ... 3," Wong said. "But I didn’t give up and turned back to my base and reversed just in time."

TROY TAKAHASHI

119 pounds • St. Louis • Senior

Though Takahashi had a 33-1 record with 75 takedowns and was a returning champion, the Crusader senior had his hands full with Maui’s Jonathan Smith and won 3-2 on an escape with three seconds left. "He was really tough," said Takahashi, a judo convert who prefers the sweaty close physical contact of wrestling.

GRANT NAKAMURA

125 pounds • Baldwin • Senior

Nakamura won the 125-pound title in a 103-wrestler field at a national tournament in Reno last April. His last defeat in the Maui Interscholastic League was in the 103-pound final four years ago. "What really motivated me was seeing Travis Lee take second in the state finals as a freshman," Nakamura said. "I wanted to come good like him."

TRAVIS LEE

130 pounds • St. Louis • Senior

The pre-eminent wrestler of Hawai‘i’s senior class (one of 14 three-time state champions and the state’s first wrestling double All-America) scored nine takedowns in the final match to extend his season total to 114. He won his last 112 high school matches in Hawai‘i and had a career record of 200-17. That goes nicely with his cumulative 3.8 GPA, college recruiters say.

JAKE KAMAKA‘ALA

135 pounds • Kahuku • Senior

"I wanted it so much," Kamaka‘ala said, "to keep up the family name." His uncles both won state championships at Kahuku, Furl (132 pounds) in 1980 and Dane (126) in 1985. Jake hadn’t won a title of any kind before last month, but in succession, took the OIA Eastern Division, OIA and state championships "due to his effort at practice," coach Reggie Torres said. He wants to follow his Uncle Furl’s path to Pacific U. in Oregon.

C.J. PEABODY

140 pounds • St. Louis • Sophomore

C.J. (the C stands for Charles) started wrestling in Virginia in the 2nd grade at a youth club. He has won state freestyle championships in Florida (1999) and Hawai‘i, where his Marine Corps family moved two summers ago after he finished 8th grade. Peabody helps his mother teach a pre-kindergarten Sunday school class.

JONATHAN SPIKER

145 pounds • St. Louis • Sophomore

With his second title in two years, Spiker is on track to become Hawai‘i’s second four-time high school champion, joining ‘Iolani’s Patrick Higa (1983-86). He has not been beaten since the 7th grade and has a 76-0 high school record. Spiker also is an 18-time national judo champion (with Shobukan), and has managed a 4.17 grade point average along the way, taking advanced courses such as Japanese III. He pinned two of his state opponents and won the other two matches by scores of 19-5 and 16-1.

KAINOA CASCO

152 pounds • Lahainaluna • Junior

Casco had to skip the Maui interscholastic surfing championships last weekend to keep his family’s wrestling string alive. His brother, Kawika, won states the last two years at 152 and 171. Kainoa’s 9-foot long board is 3 feet, 4 inches taller than Casco, a junior who was Maui football’s all-star quarterback last fall. He has a 3.5 GPA and a 27-2 season won-lost record.

JANSEN FUKUDA

160 pounds • Mid-Pacific • Senior

The orange hair was "for fun and team pride" at states and the 11-2 championship match victory was to make a statement. "Last year I won (152s) on a penalty. One of my goals was to win on my ability instead of the other person’s mistake," he said. Fukuda was unbeaten at 160 this season and was only taken down once.

MARK EGESDAL

171 pounds • Punahou • Senior

Egesdal, a National Merit Scholarship finalist with a 3.8 GPA, will attend Stanford next fall as a recruited walk-on. He credits his improvement from third place last year to "a lot of off-season work getting better on my feet and in neutral position. This is the first time I’ve been able to win big matches on my feet."

CARDEN VINCENT

189 pounds • Kamehameha • Senior

Vincent is headed first for the Senior Nationals next month, then to either Oregon State or the University of Hawai‘i to study marine biology. He won a national merit scholarship for his PSAT score of 209 (possible 230) and compiled a 36-2 record this year. Vincent was never taken down in 24 regular-season matches.

PRINCE BROWN

215 pounds • St. Louis • Junior

Brown overcame a hyperextended right knee that cut short his football season (he’s a running back) to achieve 30-2 record in junior year. He plans to try shot put this spring and will use his strength and power in judo as St. Louis fields a team for the first time. Brown was a 145-pound national judo champion as a 6th-grader.

SAIA LOTULELEI

275 pounds • Maui • Senior

"I thank God for helping me to fulfill my goals; I have one goal to go," said Lotulelei, who is one of 14 three-time state champions. His remaining goal is winning a national championship next month; he placed second last year. "I just wanted my last year to be like the greatest year and wanted to have fun," said Lotulelei, who went 22-0 with 14 pins. He weighs only 235 or 240 pounds, not counting his giant smile. Wrestling so far has taken Lotulelei to California, North Dakota, Illinois, Nevada and the Olympic Training Center at Colorado Springs, and, he hopes, to college next term.

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