Valdez is first four-time girls champ
By Wes Nakama and Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writers
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Kahuku High School ran away with its second straight Data House Girls State Championship and Moanalua's Caylene Valdez became the first Hawai'i female to win four state titles last night at Blaisdell Arena.
Moanalua's Caylene Valdez has Farrington's Tamitha Hufana in a predicament en route to a pin in 44 seconds.
Valdez, who had won three championships at 108 pounds, pinned Farrington's Tamitha Hufana in 44 seconds to capture the 114 title.
Hufana, a sophomore, had beaten defending champion Debbi Sakai of Mililani in the semifinals and put on an aggressive charge in the opening moments against Valdez.
Twenty-one seconds into it, Valdez twisted her knee and the match was stopped momentarily.
But Valdez recovered quickly and made her mark in history.
"I wrestled her three times and she was very different all three times," said Valdez. "She took me down twice in the (O'ahu Interscholastic Association) finals, and that kinda shook me. I was kinda scared tonight, because I knew she probably prepared even more."
When Valdez was injured, it brought back memories of last year's 108-pound final, when she and Kahuku's Shanel Vivas both were hurt during the match.
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"I was really scared after that, because I didn't want to get injured," Valdez said. "But before the match, my coach (Eddie Gudoy) told me not to hold anything back, to just go for it. I just jumped on her mistake. But she'll be a state champ next year, no doubt about it. I know she works hard and is determined."
Moanalua’s Caylene Valdez celebrates her fourth consecutive state title.
But last night, it was Valdez standing on the top platform for the record fourth time.
"It felt wonderful, I'm so glad," Valdez said. "I am the first one, and it's unbelievable. It's an honor."
The most dramatic match of the finals was at 130, where No. 2 seed Jasmine Norman of Kealakehe held on to defeat No. 1 Jazmine Cockett of Kamehameha 7-6 in two overtimes.
Norman, who has had to fly in to O'ahu to find matches during the season due to a lack of opponents on the Big Island, led 6-1 in the third period before Cockett rallied with an escape, takedown and near-fall to send it into overtime.
"I thought, 'There went my life — a reversal and near-fall,' " Norman said. "She wanted it, and it was the longest minute."
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Cockett actually was initially awarded three points for the near-fall, but the side referee ruled there were only four seconds on the clock, meaning only a two-point near-fall was possible.
Punahou's Mauri Terao, top, wrestles with Kahuku's Elizabeth Torres in the 108-pound class. Torres pinned Terao to win the state championship.
"I thought I lost," Norman said. "I was ready to accept it."
After a scoreless first overtime, Cockett won the toss and took the down position, needing to break free within 30 seconds in order to win. If Norman maintained control for 30 seconds, she would win.
After trying to break off and then pulling Norman out of the ring four times, she was left with only two seconds after the final down position and Norman held on for the win.
"It still hasn't hit me," Norman said. "She was second last year, and I was sixth. I was a nobody."
Norman now can call herself a state champion.
So can the Kahuku girls, who scored 147.5 team points to easily outdistance Moanalua (117.5) and Kamehameha (104.5).
The Red Raiders had two individual champions (Elizabeth "Kapua" Torres, 108, and Kehau Kamauoha, 140), two runners-up (Nicole Fonda, 103, and Leilani Relator, 121) and one fourth, Ashlee Estioko (130), fifth, Rosylynn Maiava (114) and sixth, Amanda Aquino (98).
"It feels great," Kahuku coach Reggie Torres said. "It's a great feeling, especially when you know the girls worked so hard for it."
That was true of Torres' daughter Kapua, who finished second last year and tore her medial collateral ligament a month ago.
"I'm ecstatic for her," Torres said. "She got the monkey off her back. She worked so hard to get this first-place championship and finally she got it in her senior year."
