In the spirit of improvement, Cameron Kato jumped up a weight class Saturday and made some serious noise with a victory over another one of the state’s best in ILH open wrestling at Punahou.
Kato, who is No. 3 in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s pound-for-pound rankings, is gearing up for a run at the 126-pound state title. He showed some moxie by deciding to try his hand at 132, where Kamehameha’s Blaysen Terukina was waiting on the other side of the bracket in the final.
“I was looking for the best competition possible,” Kato said after his 10-8 win over Terukina. “I knew that he was stronger and I couldn’t let him take advantage of that, so I had to keep good position. It just feels good. Every day, I’m beating myself up (at grueling practices) and it’s nice to know that it’s not for nothing.”
Both are previous state champions. Kato won states at 106 two seasons ago and was injured late last year. Terukina took the 120-pound state crown a year ago, and came into the bout one spot higher than Kato — No. 2 — in the pound-for-pounds.
Kato, who weighed in at 127.3, nearly didn’t make the final, just getting past Joseph Fong of Pac-Five, 9-7, in the semis.
“I thought I was done,” he said. “He (Fong) caught my head and arm and I thought the ref was going to call it, but he didn’t.”
If Terukina needed anymore inspiration, Saturday was the day. It was a rare loss, but one that will fuel more of his abundant fire.
“It showed me I’ve got things to work on and improve on,” said Terukina, who weighed in at 132.4. “It will give me motivation. Hopefully, we can meet again. I don’t think it’ll happen, though (due to the weight-class difference). He got that one, and I’ll give it to him, but I’d like to go again. I was taking some horrible shots and he was countering.”
Yoshi Honda, Kato’s coach at Punahou, called it a “great match” that was “great” for Hawaii high school wrestling.
“Terukina is so good at countering and he’s so explosive,” Honda said. “Kato won with his tenacity and by continuing to be aggressive.”
Another Punahou wrestler — heavyweight Kanai Eldredge — is taking aim at a state crown. According to Honda, going into the day, he was beating all of his opponents by pin or by a wide point margin. With a one-point lead in a difficult final against ‘Iolani’s Dane Yamashiro, Eldredge got a takedown at the buzzer for a 6-3 win.
Eldredge, another of the well-known Punahou Eldredge family, moved to Oahu from Utah during his freshman year. He’s the son of “Boy” Eldredge, who is the son of Dave Eldredge, who is the brother of “Pal” Eldredge.
Last week, Eldredge participated in all-star football games on Thursday and Saturday and took a bit of a break from wrestling. He was a Honolulu Star-Advertiser third-team choice as an offensive lineman. He also won the heavyweight division in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu last year and placed fifth at states.
“It’s the time of year when practices are getting a little less intense,” he said. “But I’m pounding it out every day. You’ve got to remember what you’re wrestling for (state title),” he said.
Two other pound-for-pound ranked wrestlers won at Punahou on Saturday — ‘Iolani’s Brian Pascua (No. 6) at 160 and Jake Nakasone (No. 7), who wrestled in Kato’s real division, at 126 but usually competes at 120.
