Hawaii wrestlers continue to make huge strides on the mainland.
The latest to go far in the NCAA Division III Championships at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is former Kapolei wrestler Shandon Akeo.
Former Kapolei wrestler Shandon Akeo (top) of Central College in Iowa placed third in the 125-pound weight class at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday. (Image credit: Central College Athletics).
The third-seeded Akeo, who has gone by the last name Ilaban in the past, placed third at 125 pounds on Saturday. It was the same day former Campbell wrestler Zayren Terukina placed third at 141 pounds.
Wrestling for Central College (Pella, Iowa) nearly made it to the title match, but lost to Carlos Champagne of Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana), who scored a 5-3 overtime sudden victory in the semifinals. That was Akeo’s first loss of the season.
Earlier in the tournament, Akeo defeated Joey Lamparaelli of Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pennsylvania) by major decision, 17-2, in the preliminary round and then took care of Nicholas Arborio of Western New England University (Springfield Massachusetts) in overtime sudden victory, 8-6.
Akeo (22-1) then won two matches to nab third place, beating Riley Parker of Washington and Lee University (Lexington, Virginia) by fall in 6:45 and second-seeded Samuel Braswell of Averett University (Danville, Virginia) by fall in 4:12.
Akeo won the Hawaii 126-pound state championship in 2015 and is a three-time state placer. He took second at 132 pounds in 2016 and fourth at 113 pounds in 2014.
—–
ALSO AT Bedrock Sports Hawaii:
