More competitors, more events.
The wrestling season is bustling in Hawaii, and the slowdown in the pandemic has helped this close-knit statewide community in that regard immensely.
The Texaco/HHSAA State Championships are less than a month away. The team and individual championships in each league are getting closer.
Today, Bedrock Sports brings you its boys pound-for-pound list. The girls p4p will follow in the near future.
If you are a wrestler, you need to know that these rankings are only a guideline — a recognition of some of the top wrestlers by a knowledgeable and trusted panel of eight coaches.
There are countless ways to cut the cake, but the list below is how the voting numbers came out, with Bedrock reserving the right to make minor adjustments.
So, wrestlers, remember, it’s what you do on the mat that matters and not where you are on in the rankings. Pound-for-pound lists, by nature, are mainly done to promote the sport and fuel a healthy discussion of wrestlers’ merits.
Also, if you are a coach and want to vote for the next p4p update, please email [email protected]. The more input, the better.
Of course, there are many out there who say anyone who loses shouldn’t be on the p4p list. Well, that is not true here. A handful of competitors who have lost this season got in. All of those wrestlers have stellar past achievements and — despite a loss — are off to strong starts this season.
Looking at the votes, it’s evident that many coaches gave a nod to wrestlers’ career achievements along with their accomplishments so far this year, not to mention their potential to finish strong based on how dominant they’ve been looking on the mat.
So here goes: the boys p4p (weight class shown subject to change):
Bedrock Sports Hawaii’s Boys Pound-For-Pound Rankings
>> 1. (tie) Scotty Dikilato, 285, Kamehameha senior 2022 (285 state champion; 2020 285 state fifth place; 2023 285 Officials champ)
>> 1. (tie) Tyger Taam, 138, Moanalua sophomore (2022 132 state champion; 2022-23 138 Officials champ)
>> 3. Logan Lau, 120, Mid-Pacific junior (2022 120 state third place; 2022-23 120 Officials champ)
>> 4. Brycen Pagurayan*, 170, Kapolei senior (2022 170 state champ; 2020 145 state fifth place)
>> 5. Keegan Goeas, 152, Castle sophomore (2022 138 state fourth place; 2022-23 Officials champ)
>> 6. Hunter Berger, 106, Saint Louis freshman (2022-23 106 Officials champ)
>> 7. Mikah Labuanan*, 132, Kamehameha-Maui sophomore (2022 126 state champ; 2022-23 Garner Ivey Maui Invitational champ)
>> 8. Evan Kusumoto*, 113, Kamehameha, junior (2022 106 state champ; 2022-23 113 Officials champ)
>> 9. Keawe Kane-Keahi, 195, Lahainaluna senior (2022 182 state runner-up; 2022-23 195 Officials champ; 2022-23 195 Garner Ivey Maui Invitational champ)
>> 10. Vanderlei Yong, 220, Waianae senior (2022 220 state champ)
>> 11. Xander Erolin*, 152, PAC-5 junior (2022 152 state champ)
>> 12. Bransen Porter*, 145, Waianae junior (2022 132 state runner-up; 2022-23 145 Officials champ)
>> 13. Tyler Shields, 170, Kalaheo senior (2022-23 170 Officials champ)
>> 14. Justyce Mercado*, 152, Punahou junior (2022 145 state champ; 2022-23 160 Officials champ)
>> 15. Jaren Kimura, 132, Mililani senior (2022-23 132 Officials champ)
*-wrestlers with a loss
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Others receiving votes or honorable mentions:
>> Brendan Sekulich, 126, Punahou senior (2023 126 Officials champ)
>> Kanale Coelho, 285 Leilehua senior (2022 285 state runner-up)
>> Rodstan Salangdron, 220, Kapolei senior
>> Joshua Frias, 120, ‘Iolani senior
>> Akoni Kaaialii, 145, Kamehameha senior (2022 138 state fifth place)
>> Maika Kahele-Akeo, 195, Kapolei senior (2022, 195 state third place)
Below are some interesting comments by some panel members and some other observers not on the panel who will remain anonymous:
>> “152 is the deepest weight so far this year with like eight returning state placers and two who are state champs. Keegan Goeas is the only undefeated wrestler in the weight. He’s a state placer and beat PAC-5’s Xander Erolin, who has beaten Punahou’s Justyce Mercado, Casey Honbo, and Kamehameha’s Traven Wailehua.”
>> “Tyger Taam is undefeated in high school and his closest match has been 8-0.”
>> “Tyger Taam is in my opinion the undisputed P4P at this point in time. He is unbeaten, has looked outstanding, and is a step ahead of his competition at his weight class.”
>> “Tyger Taam is probably the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the state, but Scotty Dikilato has much more career accomplishments and he’s beaten the state runner-up in close matches three times this year. Both of those guys are undefeated since the beginning of last year. Tyger competition hasn’t been as strong and that’s because people are running from him in 138. If you look, you’ll see lots of guys who could be in 138 going to both 132 and 145.”
>> “Scotty Dikilato put in a ton of work this offseason and I think that further distances him from the pack.”
>> Logan Lau is an absolute stud. He’s working on opening up more and scoring points and if he makes that the standard, he will be the top kid in the state hands down.”
>> “Bransen Porter (who bumped up and lost to Punahou’s Justyce Mercado) has the biggest stones out of anyone I can think of. He chases the tough matches and doesn’t try to keep it close. He has a ton of skills, is physical, mean and savvy.”
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ALSO AT BedrockSportsHawaii.com:
>> Kahuku’s Maia Esera Voted As No. 1 In Bedrock’s Girls p4p Rankings
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>> The Season As It Unfolds:
2 Comments
Sounds like a good handful of the coaches on your trusted coaches panel may belong to a specific group or club 🤔 Let all the championship tournaments in these next few weeks determine the true P4P rankings. After all, readers prefer facts over opinions.
All the best to these young athletes on maintaining their rankings in the weeks ahead.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for reading. The coaches are the ones who have shown through the years that they care the most about providing input to Bedrock Sports Hawaii. We do not know what clubs they belong to. However, all coaches can provide their input if they want to. In the story, it says they are welcome to join for the next update by emailing us. The more the better, and the better the list will be in the long run. But until the other coaches show they want to come aboard for voting, these coaches we have on the panel now are what we have. And we also know that no p4p or all-star list will make everyone happy.
Comments are closed.