Of the 28 OIA champions crowned Saturday night, it was the first time on the top step for 23 of them. They capped their evening with the biggest first-time OIA champion, heavyweight Tristan Ludiazo.
Campbell’s Ludiazo beat Radford’s John Patrick Oishi in overtime with the entire gym crowded around the mat, but that has just been the way the undefeated senior rolls. Every match with him comes down to the wire, including two close wins over Lahainaluna’s Conrad Bolor in the preseason and an overtime win over Mililani’s Dayton Furuta at states last year.
"I like to give a good show, honestly," Ludiazo said. "I know my match is always one of the last ones of the night and I can’t let everybody go home without a bang after sitting there all day."
Ludiazo celebrated with his team by holding a cardboard championship belt over his head when the team scores were announced after spending his time on the podium hugging his competitors and having a grand old time. Campbell’s boys beat runner-up Moanalua 193-166 and the girls beat Waianae 183-142.
Both teams repeated the championships they won last year, with the boys becoming the first to win three years in a row since Kaiser from 2007 to 2009 and the girls matching Pearl City’s two in a row from just before they started their run.
"Campbell, historically we have been up there, and this year was kind of a rebuilding year with people who haven’t wrestled varsity before," Ludiazo said. "The fact that last week and this week we were able to take it by such large margins is amazing and goes to show we can pull together and get it done."
In addition to Ludiazo, the Sabers got championships from sophomore Triston Santos at 113, Joshua Roy Gallarde in the gauntlet at 132 pounds and James Sullivan at 220. Matthew Mantanona, Matthew Aguigui and Micah Tynanes-Perez also made the finals for the Sabers.
They made their new coach proud, but he will be sure to remind them that the work continues next week at states, where the Sabers have never won a team title. Lucas Misaki is listed as the boys coach and Brian Weida takes the credit for the girls, but they pool their efforts between both genders.
"This is great, but it’s not the end of the season," Misaki said. "It’s not the end goal. The foundation that was built is the reason we repeat, it’s not anything new this year. It’s the kids who sometimes if practice is not hard enough they are in my ear wanting to work harder."
The only repeat winners on the boys side were Jayson Pagurayan (106 pounds) and Shandon Ilaban Totten (126) of Kapolei and Leilehua’s Liam Corbett (152), who won his first OIA title for Radford last year.
Mililani’s Diamond brothers never got a chance to win their second league titles, with Zack Diamond falling to Waianae’s Sheldon Bailey in the semifinals at 138 pounds and Isaac Diamond losing to Roosevelt’s Bishop Moore in the quarterfinals. Zack Diamond, Hawaiiprepworld.com’s top male wrestler in its pound-for-pound rankings, hurt his knee during the loss before losing on a late takedown. Isaac Diamond has been nursing a shoulder injury all year, but coach John Robinson expects both of them to be ready for next week’s state tournament.
Campbell’s Angela Peralta was one of two girls to repeat, pinning Kahuku’s Lilia Kaka at 145. Roosevelt’s Maria Garcia was the other repeat winner, taking down Asia Lien Evans of Pearl City, who won an OIA championship in 2012, at 127 pounds.
Roosevelt’s Kristin Kojima and Kahuku’s Jocelyn Alo failed in bids for repeats.
Caragh Morris was Campbell’s only other champion on the girls’ side, taking the title at 168 pounds, but state champion Kalissa Pundyke, Alana Alviar and Sarah Patanapaiboon made the finals.
"I’m glad we did as well as we did as a team," Weida said. "We could have wrestled better in the finals, that’s for sure, but it’s a nice expectation to come in with. Last week after Westerns the first comments from the kids was ‘Lets go get OIAs’ instead of thinking it was celebration relax time."
