The Keaau curse is no more.
Ivory Ayers etched her name into Cougars lore Saturday, pinning Konawaena’s Kapoina Bailey in the first all-BIIF final at the HHSAA wrestling championships in Honolulu, delivering her school its first gold medal in state competition.
Ayers’ victory was a breakthrough for her league as well, ending the BIIF’s three-year gold drought at states.
The skid was broken, for all intents and purposes, earlier in the day in the 168-pound semifinals, where Ayers, a senior and the No. 2 seed, earned her third of four pins at the tournament, while Bailey surprised top-seeded Saydie Kala of Baldwin 5-3.
For the second consecutive Saturday, Ayers moved in quickly on Bailey, flipping her to her back and pinning her in 1 minute, 32 seconds. On Feb. 11, Ayers pinned Bailey at 1:33 to earn her third BIIF title.
At states, Ayers went one step further than her sister, Ebony, did last year to earn a milestone win for a school that opened in 2000. Some onlookers in 2016 thought Ebony Ayers had earned a pin in the 184 final, but she took a 15-14 loss and silver.
Pins were Ivory Ayers’ specialty Friday and Saturday at Neal Blaisdell Center. In four matches, she spent fewer than nine minutes on the mat. Ayers was sixth and fourth, respectively, that last two seasons at states. Previous to Saturday, the BIIF’s last winner at state was Welina Tong, who won the 175 title for Kamehameha in 2013.
Just a sophomore, Bailey opened with a 9-6 win and a pin in two matches Friday.
The BIIF’s other No. 2 seed, Kamehameha’s Kayla Araki, took a familiar route at states. For the third consecutive year, she lost in the semifinals, this time falling by a late pin against Pearl City’s Jacqueline Fuamatu at 155, but again Araki rebounded in consolation to collect a third career bronze.
In girls 225, Kealakehe Roxie Umu, the top seed, and Kamehameha’s Kulia Shores-Ulep both lost in the semifinals – Umu fell 6-2 while Shores-Ulep was pinned by the eventual champion. Each won in consolation, and in what was rematch of their BIIF final, Umu was victorious again, claiming a second-period pin to earn bronze.
Kamehameha’s Manu Wengler, the fourth seed at 145, was the only BIIF boys wrestler to reach the semifinals. He lost to Mid-Pacific’s Alexandre Mimura, the top-seed, 19-3 and wound up fourth.
Warriors teammate Ka’au Estrella took sixth in the 132 division.
Araki missed out on the state wrestling gold she has long cherished, but now she’ll likely turn her attention to defending her state judo title.
Umu and Ayers could be back on the mat as well. Each took silver in state judo in 2016.
The Lahainaluna girls won their second state crown in three seasons, while the Iolani boys repeated.
