KAILUA-KONA – Tyler Milare leads Hilo High’s wrestling room with a hands-on approach, putting on shorts every day in practice to get a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of each Viking.
“I wrestle with every single one, from 99 (pounds) all the way up,” he said.
Naturally, the the 2009 Hilo alum takes it easier on some more than on others, but in the end they all gave him whiplash. There were simply too many Vikings going for BIIF championships simultaneously Saturday on two mats at Kealakehe High for Milare to give every match its proper attention.
“I sat in as many (coaching) chairs as I possibly could,” he said.
Actually, they were more like thrones. The first-year coach oversaw the Vikings’ first title sweep.
“A lot of hard work,” Milare said. “These kids got it all.”
Including the right leader, said bronze medalist Rylia Babas-Yamaguchi.
“I felt like we had it in the bag, because we had an amazing coach,” she said.
Hilo’s second consecutive girls titles took shape at the lower weight classes, with underclassmen Seraya Garrido (99), Jeream Estabillio (104) and Taylen Babas-Masuno (109) winning their first golds. Malia Kukahiwa (147) won her second crown and Liliane Toledo (184) put the finishing touches on an overpowering season with her first title.
Milare started to feel good about his boys team’s chances right around the time Rudy Pajimola (108) pinned his opponent from Konawaena, which was hot on the Vikings’ tails. Pajimola, Tyler Yoshiyama (122) and Chance Tulang (197) pocketed their first titles.
“We were working toward it,” Tulang said of the title sweep. “We expected it.”
Kamehameha had five wrestlers win titles, including three girls – Lainey Eckart (129) cruised to a second crown, and Taylor Furstenwerth (140) and Malie Vickery-Mafi (157) also won– in finishing second. The resurgent Konawaena boys got crowns from Hector Magana (154) and Kala Pai (184) in taking runner-up. Hawaii Prep was third in boys and girls, combining for four titles: Kawela Takushi (119), Jeremiah Borce (140), who claimed his second title, Luciana Conde-Cadena (134) and Jakob Honda (162).
While the Wildcats, Warriors and Ka Makani each had impressive wrestling turnouts in their own right during this comeback season after a year lost to the pandemic, none could match the quality and quantity of the Vikings.
“I wouldn’t want to say I didn’t have the numbers, but I needed a little bit more from this team,” Milare said. “It wasn’t just show up, and we’re good to go. I needed them to push a little bit more. Konawaena was coming hard. Konawaena was shocking. They came in this year and I said, ‘All right, some competition.’”
In working with each of his wrestlers, Milare tries to get a feel for where they will best succeed, both for the team and individually.
“My goal is to try to get them in the most dominant weight class I thing they will be, and the team title always follows,” he said.
Babas-Masuno jumped two weight classes to get to 109, and Kukahiwa shed pounds to get to 147.
“Honestly, I just listened to my coach,” Kukahiwa said. “In the beginning, I was kind of hesitant about it, but I trusted him and cut the weight.”
Kealakehe was the last team to sweep the titles, doing so in 2019.
Milare didn’t plan to give his team much, if any, time off to admire its accomplishment, not with the HHSAA championships ahead Friday and Saturday in Honolulu.
“Seven days a week,” Milare said. “Offseason is for the days off.”
