Kihei Charter has never had a state tennis champion, but this morning the school is trying for two.
The Tiger Sharks have representatives in the boys and girls singles finals at the HMSA/HHSAA Tennis Championships at the Mauna Lani Sports and Fitness Club on the Big Island.
No. 4 seed Hobbes Wilstead will meet top seed Ryo Minakata of Hawaii Prep in the boys singles final and Jessalyn Lopez will face No. 4 seed Maile Brilhante of Waiakea in the girls singles championship.
Rylan Woo of Pearl City upset No. 2 Hunter Fujimori of Mililani in the boys singles quarterfinals and then fell to Wilstead 6-4, 0-6 (4). Wilstead set up his heroics with a 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Mid-Pacific’s Andrew Chiang. Minakata, the top seed, cruised past Carlos Argones of Roosevelt 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Punahou’s Leyton Ramos 6-2, 6-1 in the semis.
Lopez battled her way through the draw as the No. 2 seed with a 6-4, 5-7 (5) win over Nikki Fernando of Seabury Hall in the quarters and Keilyn Kunimoto 4-6, 6-3 (5) in the semis.
Brilhante, the No. 4 seed, benefited from a busted bracket on the top of the draw when No. 7 Annika Alcon of Mid-Pacific dropped top seed Clarise Huang of Punahou 4-6, 6-2 (8) in the quarters and then lost to Brilhante 6-1, 6-0 in the semis.
There was no carnage in the boys doubles draw, with top seed Robert Chang and Scott Yamamoto of ‘Iolani advancing to meet No. 2 seed Kailuhia Lam and Cade Fujitani of Punahou in that final. The girls doubles final will be contested between two Punahou duos — No. 2 seed Alexis Matsunaga and Megan Flores vs. Jacqueline O’Neill and Cosette Wu, the third seed.
O’Neill and Wu caught a break when Mililani’s Allena Wong and Kylie Hull upset top seed Celeste Inouye and Denby Nagata of ‘Iolani 6-1, 6-3 in the quarters. O’Neill and Wu beat the Mililani duo 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals.
The finals are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. today. Kihei Charter has not had a state champion since Maya Reynolds took the 800 meters at the state track and field meet in 2015 and ’16.
