Posted on: Thursday, February 28, 2002

It's hard pinning down a favorite in state wrestling

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punahou's Ross Isokane, right, was last year's state runner-up at 135 pounds. He'll be challenged to repeat in a competitive division. Advertiser library photo

St. Louis School junior Jonathan Spiker is an overwhelming favorite to win a boys state wrestling championship this weekend.

But he may be the only one to enjoy such status in a tournament that offers few sure things and plenty of interesting matchups.

"As a coach, it's stressful," St. Louis coach Todd Los Banos said. "But that also makes it exciting."

Spiker, at 145 pounds, and teammate Prince Brown (215) are the only returning champions to be seeded (both are No.1) at the same weight class as last year. Lahainaluna's Kainoa Casco, the 152-pound champ last year, moved up a class and is now the No. 1 seed at 160.

St. Louis' C.J. Peabody, last year's 140-pound champ, actually moved down a class and is unseeded at 135 in what may be one of the most competitive divisions.

Iolani's Kyle Muraoka caused the biggest stir by winning the Interscholastic League of Honolulu crown in an upset last Saturday. That earned him this week's No. 1 seed over McKinley's Rene Suehiro, while Peabody and Punahou's Ross Isokane will have to make their way through the qualifying round.

Isokane was last year's state runner-up at 135.

"Kyle deserves the No. 1 seed, but he won at the right time," Los Banos said. "Those other guys will have a tough road."

Brown also should expect challenges at 215. The guy he beat for the title last year, Kamehameha's Noah Amba, is back again, as is Moloka'i's Justin Luafalemana, who took third in 2001.

The sleeper could be Kaimuki's Soloni Taumalolo, who took sixth last year but might be the most improved wrestler in that division. He is seeded third this year, ahead of St. Joseph's Joe Vasconcellos.

Moanalua's Noah Palmerton and Leilehua's Rory Jones, both unseeded, could also sneak into the title picture.

"That division is stacked," Los Banos said. "There are so many guys who can win it."

The 112-pound class is another competitive one, with St. Louis' Ben Willmore, Baldwin's Rowell Daquep and Roosevelt's Ted Kaneda expected to contend for the title.

"Those are all tough guys," Los Banos said.

At 125, Iolani's Brent Kakesako and McKinley's Emile Suehiro appear headed for an exciting final. Kamehameha's Christian Kikuchi will put his unbeaten record on the line at 140.

There's strong competition at 171, where Iolani's Robert Yamashita hopes to win a state title after taking second last year. Yamashita, the No. 1 seed, could be challenged by No. 2 seed Lucas Misaki of Moloka'i and No. 3 Marcus Busch of Waiakea.

At 189, Mid-Pacific's Riley Schmidtke is seeded No. 1 after a last-second victory over St. Louis' Chris Sokugawa in the ILH finals. Sokugawa finished second in the state last year.

And at heavyweight, Hilo's Michael Mandaquit is seeded No. 1 but could face tough challenges from Moanalua's Pahia Curran, Lahainaluna's Charles Tang or Damien's Gaison Ganiko, who won a close match over St. Louis' Frank Fernandez in the ILH finals.

"That division will be fun to watch," Los Banos said.

As for the team title, Los Banos said that also could go down to the wire. St. Louis won its first state championship last year but barely won the ILH title Saturday after edging Punahou by two points.

"It's gonna be real close," Los Banos said. "There's a lot of good matchups, and whoever wins it is going to have to work hard for it."