ISLE FILE
7 Hawai'i wrestlers in national semis

Advertiser Staff

Four-time state champion Caylene Valdez of Moanalua and six others from Hawai'i yesterday reached the semifinals of the U.S. Girls' Wrestling Association national high school championships.

Semifinal and championship matches will be held today in Lake Orion, Mich. The sixth annual tournament drew 357 entries from 29 states.

Elizabeth "Kapua" Torres of Kahuku won all three of her 105-pound matches by pins in a total of 2 minutes, 52 seconds — including 27 seconds in the first round and 58 seconds in the quarterfinal.

Valdez pinned two of her three opponents.

Six other Hawai'i girls advanced in the backside (consolation) brackets and could finish as high as third place. Six were eliminated on the first day of the two-day event.

Reaching the championship semifinals were:

• 100 pounds — Naomi Karlen of Punahou and Nicole Fonda of Kahuku High and Ka'a'awa.
• 105 — Torres.
• 110 — Debbie Sakai of Mililani High .
• 114 — Valdez.
• 122 — Danyelle Hedin of Kailua
• 126 — Jasmine Norman of Kealakehe High and Holualoa, won her quarterfinal in an overtime tiebreaker after pinning her second-round opponent.

Remaining in contention for lower places are:

• 100 — Bernadette Javier of Leilehua and Sadie Kaneda of Roosevelt. Javier lost to Fonda 5-3 in a quarterfinal.
• 118 — Roslyn Maiava of Kahuku and Hau'ula was pinned in her quarterfinal.
• 122 — Lauren Primiano of Punahou and Wahiawa, and Leilani Relator of Kahuku.
• 130 — Jazmine Cockett of Kamehameha.

Venus Bravo of Kahuku, expected to be a contender at 100 pounds, had to default her second-round match because of an injury.

Other Hawai'i entries who were eliminated yesterday were: 110 — Jaynee Kim (Punahou of 'Aiea); Ashley Cardenas (Honolulu); 114 —Cassandra Bohe (Moanalua); 126 — Krislyn Mostoles (Waiakea); 138 — Shana Simon (Waiakea).

BODYBOARDING

Petterson wins: Stephanie Petterson won the Bud Light World Championship of Women's Bodyboarding for a record fifth time on Wednesday at the Banzai Pipeline.

Petterson, who is originally from Brazil but now resides in Australia, won the final in challenging waves that ranged from 6 to 8 feet.

Petterson prevailed in a final that consisted of four former world champions. Brazilians Neymara Carvalho, Karla Costa-Taylor and Daniela Freitas placed second through fourth, respectively.

Petterson received $2,000 for the victory. Her other Pipeline wins came in 1990, '93, '94 and 2001.

Emilia Perry of O'ahu's North Shore tied for fifth and was the top Hawai'i competitor. More than 60 female bodyboarders from around the world competed in the two-day contest.

SURFING

Newton double winner: Tyler Newton of Kaua'i won two divisions in the National Scholastic Surfing Association Hawai'i Region Championships last week at Turtle Bay.

Newton, 12, won the open boys and explorer menehune divisions. In his open boys victory, he received two perfect 10 scores.

He was the only competitor to receive two perfect 10s during the week-long competition, and the only surfer to win two divisions.

Ola Eleogram of Maui won the open men's division, which is considered the top division of the event.

Alex Smith of Kaua'i was named Most Improved Surfer of the contest; Dylan Melamed of Kaua'i was named Most Inspirational, and won a new surfboard from pro surfer Kalani Robb.

The top performers from the Hawai'i region earned spots in the NSSA National Championships, which will be held at San Clemente, Calif. Around 100 Hawai'i surfers are expected to compete in the national championships in June.

Students must have qualifying grades to compete in NSSA events, although there are also divisions for amateur adult surfers.

SWIMMING

Block finishes 8th: University of Hawai'i swimmer Cheyne Bloch finished eighth in the finals of the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Austin, Texas, yesterday.

Bloch, a junior, finished in 1 minute, 57.58 seconds. Texas' Brendan Hansen won in 1:52.62, an NCAA, American and U.S. Open record.

Earlier in the preliminaries, Bloch broke the UH record in the 200 breaststroke, finishing in 1:56.64.

UH diver Mike Gowdy finished 18th out of 21 divers in the platform preliminaries, failing to qualify for the finals. He scored 407 points; the top qualifier, Auburn's Junior Garcia had 590.90 points.

Auburn won the men's title with 609 points, followed by Texas with 413 and Stanford with 374. Hawai'i finished 24th with 21 points.

SOFTBALL

Rainbow Wahine win, lose: Hannah Owings drove in Sara Laquier with a single in the top of the eighth inning to lift Virginia to an 8-7 victory over Hawai'i in the opening game of the Tar Heel Invitational at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Hawai'i scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 7.

April Crowell led Hawai'i, going 2 for 3 including a bases-empty homer. Denise Dalhberg also hit a solo homer for UH.

In the second game, Hawai'i rallied for two runs each in the fifth and sixth inning to defeat host North Carolina, 5-3. Crowell was 2 for 2, including a double and 2 RBIs.

UH is 18-13. The tournament ends today.

GOLF

Three share lead: Brandan Kop, Brandon Abreu and Karl Ho shot 1-under-par 71s to lead the first round of the Amatour 2003 Qualifying Tournament at Makaha Resort Golf Club yesterday.

The final round is today with the top 36 golfers advancing to the second season of Amatour, a series of tournaments for Hawai'i amateurs.

Paul Kimura and defending champ Joe Phengsavath are at 72.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Kyle Yamauchi wins gold: Kyle Yamauchi of Honolulu won the gold medal in the 136-pound division at the National Junior Weightlifting Championships on Friday at Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Yamauchi, 19, made all three of his attempts in the snatch with lifts of 215, 226 and 231 pounds. He lifted 264 and 275 pounds in the clean and jerk before missing 280 in his final attempt.

The best successful attempts were added for a 506-pound total. The second-place lifter had 490 pounds.

Yamauchi's total will likely qualify him for the Junior World Weightlifting Team.

Bryce Yamauchi, Kyle's brother, took the silver medal in the 123-pound division.

Bryce, 17, had lifts of 193 pounds and 231 pounds for a total of 424 pounds. The gold-medal winner had a total of 440 pounds.

The championships were for lifters 20 years old and younger.

Other Hawai'i highlights:

• Joshua Sakamaki, 14, of Hilo, placed eighth in the 123-pound division.
• Chani Matsui, 15, of Honolulu, won a silver medal in the 106-pound division.

MEETING

• Quarterback Club: It will be basketball and boxing at tomorrow's Honolulu Quarterback Club.

Speakers include:

• Coach Ken Wagner and forward Alexus Foyle, an NCAA Division II second-team All-American.
• Bobby Lee, vice president of World Boxing Council and Hubert Minn, WBC official/judge.

The club's luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. and the program at noon at the Pagoda Restaurant.