I will never forget sitting in the makeshift media cubby hole at Blaisdell Arena and hearing the news.
Dreddin Villalpando, one of the favorites in the 132-pound class, died the night before, March 3, on the eve of Hawaii’s biggest wrestling event of the year, the Texaco/HHSAA State Championships.
Dave Watase, a Saint Louis assistant coach, was the bearer of this sobering information. It was a Friday morning and wrestlers were just hitting the mats for the first day of the March 4-5 tournament.
A real stunner.
The 18-year-old Villalpando was widely acknowledged as one of the finest wrestlers in the state, but he was a lot more than that. Those who knew him talk about how he was warm, fun, family-oriented, goal-minded, studious.
And popular.
Judging by the huge wall of cases of bottled water sitting at the edge of the wrestling practice mat in the Villalpando family’s Ewa Beach home, an overflow crowd are expected to be paying their respects to Dreddin (pronounced DRAY-den) Iwasaki Villalpando this Friday and Saturday. (See the flyer further down for public visitation and burial information).
I did not know Dreddin (also known as Dre) personally, but I did meet him at the first match of the season at the Saint Louis gym. He didn’t wrestle that day due to an ankle injury, but I gathered him and fellow Saint Louis senior teammates Cyrus Bucsit and Boston Opetaia for a photo. Two years ago, all three placed in the top six at the state tournament and were expected to contend for titles this year.
Here is that photo.
Saint Louis’ Cyrus Bucsit, Dreddin Villalpando and Boston Opetaia.
After taking the picture, I estimated that I had time to talk to one of the three and I chose Opetaia (also injured at that time) because he was coming off a successful football season with the Saint Louis Crusaders that ended in a loss to Kahuku in the Open Division state final.
Surely, I figured, that during the long season I would have time to get to interview both Bucsit and Villalpando. After all, even though Villalpando wrestled sparingly due to the injury, he started the year at No. 4 pound-f0r-pound by Bedrock Sports Hawaii and never went lower than No. 6 all the way up until states.
HE WAS THAT GOOD. Had he wound up as the tops in his class at states (which is never a guarantee) it most likely would have pushed his ranking higher. Many coaches were looking forward to seeing Villalpando tangle with Moanalua up-and-coming freshman Tyger Taam in a possible 132-pound state tournament matchup. And Taam wound up winning that division, relatively easily, placing him solidly at No. 5 p4p to end the season. Bucsit, meanwhile, fluctuated between Nos. 7 and 9 and landed at No. 3 after an undefeated season with no wobbles.
Those who knew Dreddin and his ability did not think he would wobble at states, either.
One word that comes up over and over again from coaches about the Saint Louis kid was that he was very “technical.” To see just how excellent of a technician Villalpando was, watch the following video of his win by fall over ‘Iolani’s Kai Sekigawa in the February ILH championships.
On that first morning of states, Watase was wondering how the Crusaders wrestlers under head coach Trent Teruya would hold up in the tournament.
“The family didn’t want to tell anyone until the tournament was over, but somehow the news was out already,” Watase said. “We decided to break it to the team before the tournament started in hopes that they could let the emotions out, block it out, and refocus on the task at hand. But it was hard because a life is worth so much more than any championship.”
Despite the circumstances, the Crusaders wound up winning two individual championships. Bucsit, after winning the 113-pound title on Saturday, immediately dropped to his knees and pointed to the ceiling in honor of his fallen friend. Blaze Holani, another Saint Louis senior, earned the 195-pound championship, while yet another Crusaders senior, Zach Kaliko, was the runner-up at 220.
From the beginning of the season all the way until that Friday morning, Watase felt the Saint Louis boys had a real good shot at the team state title. But without Villalpando and with those Crusaders in a state of shock, that particular path was going to be mighty tough. As it turned out, Saint Louis finished in third place behind Moanalua and Kamehameha.
To get a better idea of who Dreddin was in the eyes of those he loved, I met with the Villalpando family at their home recently. Despite their grief, an abundance of fond memories of Dreddin worked to put some smiles on their faces.
Clockwise from top left with three of Dreddin’s wrestling dummies are father Rob Villalpando, uncle Frankie Villalpando, friend Teri’i Amina, Alizeih Villalpando, auntie Mary Villalpando, and mom Lori Villalpando.
Dreddin’s father, Rob Villalpando — once a Leilehua wrestler — was the one who took the lead, and his mom, Lori, gave great insight about their son as did his sister Alizeih Villalpando, the 2019 112-pound state champion from Campbell who is now a student at Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. Dreddin and Bucsit had planned to wrestle at Midland next season. In addition, Teri’i Amina, a friend and a training partner of Dreddin’s, joined in the discussion.
“Dreddin was trying to make sure that his ankle was 100 percent before he went back on the mat,” Rob Villalpando said. “When he got back on the mat, it was like he never left — dominant fashion. I believe he could have taken states multiple times. COVID (when Dreddin was a junior) screwed everthing up for a lot of people. COVID hit us hard. It changed our lifestyle. Kids had to stay in their room when they’re used to socializing with their classmates. Their whole world changed instantly and it was a negative effect on our kids. It was hard for Dreddin to function like that, sitting on a computer.”
At Saint Louis when he was in intermediate school, Dreddin played free safety in football and was also on the judo team.
“He was a pretty good football player,” Rob Villalpando said. “He didn’t think he was that good. But he actually was decent. He was good at acrobatic flips and tumbling, too. When he was younger, he had private lessons at Aloha Cheer Academy. That helped him more as an athlete, too. It helped his repertoire in wrestling. I like to call him an educated athlete. School was first and he always tried to strive to be the best he can be.”
Dreddin Villalpando on a hike at Stairway to Heaven.
In club wrestling, Dreddin was with the Leeward Cobras early on and also wrestled for the Scorpions and most recently with the Terukina family’s Ewa Wrestling Association.
When asked for a treasured memory of her brother to share, Alizeih said, “Once, I was mad at him and whacked him with a pillow. He swept my leg so I ended up falling on the ground and hitting my head. We were both tripping out. I was like, ‘How did you do that?’ It was really fast, like a flash. He was really slick with his wrestling. From the beginning of the whistle, he’d already be going for it. In my eyes, no one could stop him. He taught me a lot of things. We taught each other how to be aggressive. We used to go at it.”
And Amina, who was asked if he was ever able to take Dreddin down while training, said, “Once in a blue moon. He was very tough, very fast and very technical.”
Dreddin Villalpando, shortly before his ILH championship 132-pound victory over ‘Iolani’s Kai Sekigawa. (Image credit: Kaui Photography)
As for college, Dreddin thought about studying aeronautical engineering or nursing. He worked one Sunday a month with his grandfather, Robert Iwasaki Villalpando Sr., who is a manager at North Shore Goodies in Haleiwa.
At home, he was a foodie.
“He loved to try different stuff, making his own sauce and doing all kinds of mixtures, chicken, everything” Rob Villalpando said. “He loved peanut butter and could eat a whole jar by himself.”
And Lori Villalpando, Dreddin’s mom and the person who probably knew Dreddin the most deeply, offered this:
“That’s my baby,” she said. “He was a mama’s boy and proud of it. He posted that on his Instagram and I was like, ‘Are you sure you want to put that?’ He was always very smart, an overachiever, a perfectionist.”
And always super punctual.
“He would be mad at me for taking him to school at 7:01,” Lori added. “If it was 7 already, he was late in his mind.”
And Rob added, “He wanted to be there at 6:50, not 7. We couldn’t believe it. We wanted him and Alizeih to be trend-setters, not followers. Leaders. Be a good addition to society and not a menace to society.”
Dreddin’s singlet and a poster tribute are on his bed at the Villalpando home.
Another interesting fact about Dreddin Villalpando: He was the editor-in-chief of The Collegian, the Saint Louis school newspaper. And there is no doubt the Crusaders senior had excellent writing and editing skills, especially at such a young age.
“Dreddin was such a gifted writer, publishing many articles in The Collegian and a feature article in the Red & Blue school magazine this past year,” said his Saint Louis English teacher, Carlyle Cameron. “He had a wonderful way of bringing a story to life in his articles. I truly enjoyed working with him in his role as the editor-in-chief and watching him grow as a writer.”
Here are two pieces of Dreddin’s writing, including one from The Collegian:
>> Building A Team Of Champions
>> Dreddin Villalpando’s personal statement on his wrestling recruiting bio at NCSA.org
The visitation and burial information.
A pin given to Dreddin’s family, friends, coaches and teammates.
Rob and Lori are planning to set up the Dreddin Villalpando Foundation endowment at Saint Louis School, and, in unison, told Bedrock Sports Hawaii: “His story will live on.”
And here’s some written testimony from Crusaders’ teammates Zach Kaliko and Cyrus Bucsit about their buddy Dre Villalpando, who they and the rest of the Saint Louis wrestling team will never forget:
From Kaliko: “Knowing that I won’t be able to interact with him again is going to hurt me the most. He was the hardest worker I’ve ever seen. When I came to St.Louis in ninth grade I saw him and didn’t know he attended here. He was not much of a talker, but he’s one of the funniest guys to be around. His dedication was unbelievable. I always looked up to him as a student-athlete and as a person. When I found out, I was crying. I was in disbelief that someone with so much talent and potential was no longer in our presence. I instantly thought about how his family was feeling. I couldn’t imagine the pain they were in that day and it had to be the first day of state. That was the most emotional weekend of my entire life and it changed me. There’s not one day I don’t think about my brother. He will always have a place in my heart.”
From Bucsit: “Dre and I met a few years back because of wrestling. Dre came in to Scorpions to wrestle with Coach Pat Hokoana. I was always the lightweight kid and he was always the next two weight classes higher. Dre became my big
brother. His dad, Uncle Rob, took me under his wing and helped me with strength training and fine-tuned my wrestling. As we got older, we wrestled under Ewa Wrestling through Coach Darryl Terukina, and our wrestling skills continued to emerge. It was the year 2019-20, during our Sophomore year that we were state placers, third place. We were ecstatic. We knew the coming year, we’d place even higher, but COVID happened.
“During wrestling season, he was my practice partner, my warm-up partner and my brother. I remember the times when we’d have our practices at the St. Louis bubble or our club practices. it was all business on the mat, but at the same time, we’d play around, too. Dre is that perfect friend, always caring and making sure that his friends were OK. He loved so many
things in life especially his family and his Uncle Frank, his car, his dogs and food. I will miss his laughter, and our photo sessions of ourselves when we’d go out. I will always remember those early morning practices and runs we’d do together. It feels like it was only yesterday that we would be drilling together. After those Saturday morning practices, we’d go out to eat and shop, but Dre and I would always love to take flics (computer animations). He would always FaceTime me and show me his outfits. It’s been difficult thinking of Dre in the past tense, because we both had our life planned ahead, in the future, our dreams. We both were to sign for Midland University and wrestle together. Our passion for the sport was real and we loved being on the mat, but the passion together took a turn on March 3, 2022. I lost my brother. I will never see the wink in his eyes again, only through photo. I will never see him wrestle again, only through videos, I will never hear him speak again, only through videos. But I must say, what he has taught me throughout his being is that he will always be by my side, near or far, as I continue to feel him. He is now my brother from heaven and my angel. I miss my bro….#drepandoforever#4dre#DV.
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Note: After receiving word from a reader, Bedrock Sports Hawaii updated this post to clarify that had Villalpando and Taam met at states, it could not have been in the finals because the original seedings had them on the same side of the bracket. However, it is true that many coaches throughout the year alerted Bedrock Sports Hawaii that Villalpando vs. Taam would have been a super intriguing 132 finals matchup if they could make it that far.
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PREVIOUSLY AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
State Wrestling Day 1: Athletes Fight On In Wake Of Tragic Death
