Donovyn Futa is back, and the Kamehameha girls are back with her.
Futa was one of the Warriors’ five state champions at the Chevron/HHSAA state wrestling championships at the Blaisdell Arena on Saturday night, bringing Kamehameha the team title it lost last year.
The Warriors scored 216.5 points to Lahainaluna’s 195.5. Pearl City was third with 125.5.
Futa was on the team as a freshman two years ago, taking a state title. That team won the championship and broke the record with five state champions, but the Warriors fell into second last year with no title holders.
The common element?
Futa took last year off to deal with a health issue. She returned to get her second state title and the team returned to the top.
“I don’t really think that has anything to do with me,” Futa said. “But I am glad we could all pull for the state championship together.
“When I didn’t wrestle last year I really saw who were my real supporters and who would support me no matter what decision I made, and they are here today.”
Kamehameha got its usual stellar performance from senior Teshya Alo, who became the third girl to win four consecutive state titles.
Alo will head to the Olympic Trials in April with a ticket to Rio on the line, but no matter what the future holds for her she will miss the camaraderie of high school wrestling when she goes from competing with girls to competing with women full-time.
“This is the best team I could ever end my high school career with,” Alo said.
“They work really hard and they know how to push themselves to the limit. And they are crazy, they are all crazy and it’s a good thing.”
Alo was the first Warrior to greet teammate Leilani Camargo-Naone after she beat Keaau’s Ebony Ayers for the title at 184 pounds — then a swarm of Kamehameha girls joined her.
Camargo-Naone placed for the first time and is Kamehameha’s spark in the wrestling room.
Other first-time state champs for Kamehameha included Pomaiakai Yamaguchi and freshman Ashley Gooman.
Other contributors included Jaclyn Fontanilla, Taj Vierra, Callen Medieros Hiliani Meyer and Anela Chow, who all wrestled in the final round.
Kamehameha coach Bill Venenciano refused to single any one of them out, even Alo.
“It relied on the team effort,” Venenciano said. “In our hui it was just go out there and do what you need to do and take it.”
Lahainaluna’s Lalelei Mataafa matched Alo with her own career slam, ending four years of dominance in which she had never been to the second period. She pinned Aulii Young of St. Francis to set off a celebration in which she was so excited she lifted her coaches off their feet.
Mataafa is just as good at water polo as she is at wrestling and had trouble getting offers to wrestle in college. She was resigned to the fact that her time in the sport might end at high school.
“I am starting to get offers for wrestling now, so I am undecided,” Mataafa said.
“But I have grown to love wrestling and I would really miss it.”
‘Iolani sophomore Teniya Alo lost her chance at a career slam when Pearl City’s Netanya Kang beat her in the semifinals.
Alo didn’t offer any excuses about the close loss, but she was recovering from shoulder surgery in September and was only cleared two weeks ago. Her match was stopped twice to tend to her shoulder.
Pearl City senior Asia Evans repeated as a state champion in the first match of the night, beating Waianae’s Anuhea Hamilton.
