The Lady Lunas came in second place at the state tournament, and the boys wrestlers achieved a ninth place finish in the team standings. PHOTO BY GLEN PASCUAL.

LAHAINA — The Lahainaluna High School wrestling team capped off another sterling season to decorate the honor wall with accolades in the venerable training room in the Jimmie H. Greig Gymnasium on the West Side campus.

Both the Luna girls and boys teams steamrolled their way to the top of the Maui Interscholastic League regular season standings and then carried that momentum through to the Texaco/HHSAA (Hawaii High School Athletic Association) State Wrestling Championships two weeks ago at the Cannon Activities Center on the Brigham Young University Hawaii campus at Laie, Oahu.

By placing in nine of the 14 weight divisions in the girls competition, the Lady Lunas took home the silver trophy for second place in the final team standings with 180 points. And on the other side of the mat, the boys finished ninth in the overall finals, totaling 71 points.

The Lahainaluna wahine were led by the gold medal efforts of Naiomi Kulukulualani-Sales in the 107-pound division and Kivah Caballero at 122 pounds.

Adding valuable points to the team total were the silver medal finishes of Teani Medeiros Maielua (132 pounds) and Catherine Asami (184), as well as Siana Boaz Vasquez (127) with a bronze.

Also scoring for the Lady Lunas were Crystin Dior Treu (138) in fourth place, and Shansi Boaz Vasquez (145), Brianna Kekona (155) and Casey Ann Ross (225), all with sixth place finishes.

On the boys’ side, Keawe Kane Keahi won the gold medal at 195 pounds, and Jackson Hussey fought to a fifth place in the 182-pound bracket to push the Lunas’ point total to 71 and a top ten placement in the final team standings.

Lahainaluna head coach Zane Monteleone expressed the team’s special aloha to all of the graduating seniors on the team.

“This has been a very rewarding season, as all of our 38 student-athletes on the roster were positively driven and trusted the process that was put forth. Everyone bought into the system and put in an absolutely supreme effort. Most of them have been in the program for ten years and more,” he said.

“Our sincere mahalo goes out to the Lahaina community and the school staff and administration,” added the veteran mentor, who was assisted by Shane Cunanan, Terry Shibao, Christian Balagso, Nao Ah Puck, Sheldon Tateyama, Ivy Navarro, Mark Umanyan, Zeff Dudoit and many dedicated alumni and former staffers.

“We also send our appreciation to all of the parents who contributed to our success this year, as well as to Todd Hayase; Athletic Director Jon Conrad; Trainers Michael Griffo and Schuyer Withington; and special thank you to the LHS Foundation for their constant support and connection to the community. And an added bonus this year was the hospitality and kindness shown to us by the Hotel La Croix in Honolulu during our stay over there, and we truly appreciate that,” concluded Coach Monteleone.