KANEOHE, O‘ahu — For the second year in a row, Waiakea High’s boys golf team won the Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) state championship — carding 612 as a team after two rounds to beat Moanalua High and Punahou School by five strokes on Wednesday at the Kaneohe Klipper Course.
It was Waiakea’s first back-to-back title win since 1999. This year’s Warriors squad had three returners from last year’s team — Ryder Ng and the Otani brothers, Jake and Noah.
Senior Noah Otani led the way for the Warriors, shooting 77 (+5) in the first round and an even 72 in the second to place No. 10 with seven birdies and 12 bogies. It was his second straight top-ten finish in the state tournament.
“Noah was key,” Waiakea coach Alika Toledo said. “Believe it or not, he bogeyed the (18th hole) to shoot even par. He was one under coming down 18. He was key both days, everyone was. I was telling the boys ‘you know last year, we were only four strong?’ This year, in the two days, all five players’ scores were used. Definitely a good team win for Waiakea.”
First place went to Seabury Hall’s Tyler Loree, who shot 69 and 72.
The younger Otani brother, Jake, was the next-highest finisher from Waiakea, and from the BIIF — shooting 73 and 78 to close out seven over and place No. 14.
“In this day and age with so many schools out there, it’s tough to get five good players at the same school,” Toledo said. “In the (Interscholastic League of Honolulu), you can bring in players from other districts. But, being part of the (BIIF), it’s not as easy.”
Right behind him was Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i freshman and BIIF champion Kaha‘i Helm in No. 15, carding 80 and 73.
“15th place was the cutoff for the last medal, so he got it,” KSH golf coach Jaysen Manuia said. “He was so happy. After the first round, he was pretty bummed out about (shooting) 80. We had limited access to practice on the course, so shooting an 80 and coming back with a 73 shows how much character he has. He started the day off in 38th place.
“I’m so proud of him — and all the Hilo guys, they really tried out there, they did awesome. It was so awesome to see the Otani boys in there battling as well, I’m so stoked for them.”
Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Matty Inaba was the next in line from the BIIF, placing No. 27 after shooting 80 and 77. Waiakea freshman Skyler Miyashiro finished two spots behind Inaba after also carding 77 and 80, but with three double-bogies while Inaba totalled two.
Kealakehe’s Noah Okazaki (+14, 78, 80, 158) placed No. 35 and Waiakea’s Noah Miyazono (+15, 80, 79, 159) placed No. 36.
Reyn Kaneshiro led the way for Hilo High, placing No. 47 after carding 76 and 85. The Vikings (+99, 342, 333, 675) placed No. 7 out of nine teams, beating Mililani High by 11 strokes and Kaui High by 31.
Senior Ryder Ng placed No. 50 for Waiakea, carding 76 in the first round and 86 in the second to finish 18 over.
This summer, the Warriors plan to return to the PGA National High School Invitational in Texas — in which they placed No. 5 last year, becoming the first Hawaii school in the tourney’s brief history to finish among the top five. Attending the national tourney this summer would make them the first Hawaii school to make back-to-back appearances.
“Besides winning the state championship, (attending the PGA national tourney) was always our goal,” Toledo said, “to get back to Frisco, Texas this year. When we were leaving last year, I told the three (returning golfers) ‘if we wanna get back, that road starts tomorrow, not in February, not three or four months before the season starts.’
“They’re so, so happy to be going back. I told them they should be happy, and be proud of themselves.”
Toledo said that much like last year’s trip to the state championship on Kaua‘i, the Warriors received a great deal of support from friends, fans and family.
“We have our school to thank, our parents, our community,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that are associated with Waiakea High golf that helped us get to where we are. We played at Kaneohe Klipper. You try find one AirBnb to rent in Kaneohe — brah, it’s in the grands.
“One of my friends — Brian Miyamoto, who owns Hawaii Sheet Metal — let us stay in his house for free for a week. It’s friends like that who imfluence us and help us, and continue to make Waiakea what it is. It’s such a blessing.”
WHS’ two graduating seniors — Noah Otani and Ryder Ng — both signed letters of intent earlier this school year to play college golf. Otani will representing his hometown at UH-Hilo — where his sister, Elle, also plays — and Ng will move to Oregon to play for Linfield University.
The HHSAA girls golf championship will be held next Tuesday and Wednesday, also at the Kaneohe Klipper Course.
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ALL OTHER BIIF GOLFERS
55. Parker Smithson (HPA) +19, 84, 79, 163
67. Iakona Manuia (Hilo) +24, 84, 84, 168
71. Tyler Maag (Hilo) +27, 91, 80, 171
79. Tristan LaFlamme (Kealakehe) +30, 90, 84, 174
82. Aiden Puleo (Hilo) +31, 91, 84, 175
94. Kaiden Ambrosio (Hilo) +43, 94, 93, 187