2008 ILH Championships
February 24, 2008 by Jimmy
Filed under 2008 Season
Overall, we put in a solid performance yesterday, sweeping the ILH Team Championship for the Boys and placing a respectable third for the Girls. It’s the second time in as many years that the Boys have won the ILH Championship at all three levels (INT, JV and VARS).
JV put in the standout performance yesterday, with 11 individual champions (out of 14 weight classes) and more than doubling up 2nd place Kamehameha on points. Two weeks ago, JV wrestled about as poorly as they had all season. The coaches were very direct with the team, challenging them to step up their performance if they were serious about repeating as ILH Champions. Well, "step up" they did. Their results of the past two weekends speak for themselves, but just as impressive have been their practices. The intensity went up by what seemed to be an order of magnitude in their drilling and live sessions, and the wrestle-offs were as fierce as any of their outside competition. JV: WELL DONE!
In spite of an uneven performance, the Girls managed to stay in contention until the end. A mediocre finals round landed the Girls in third place; quite respectable considering they forfeit three weight classes, but disappointing considering they still had a chance to do better. The good news is that they have one more shot next week.
Varsity’s tournament was also quite uneven. On the (very) positive side, we had 11 out of 14 wrestlers in the finals. The negatives? Our 103 and 119 pounders should also have been in the finals but wrestled below their abilities in the early rounds. Also, of the 11 finals matches, we only won 6. A winning percentage, but just barely so.
So at the risk of sounding like too much of a perfectionist, we’ve still got a lot of work to do in the coming week. Kaiser looked very strong, beating a tough Pearl City team in the OIA Championships yesterday and both will be strong contenders next week. Lahainaluna put all 14 wrestlers in the finals of the MIL, which means they’ll also be very tough to beat at the state tournament. Some may consider us the front-runner but we’re not deluding ourselves: this is a wide open state tournament.
For now, we celebrate a very successful ILH season. Congratulations to the JV for a strong finish to a great season, to the Girls for stepping up all season despite being short-handed, and to the Varsity on their third consecutive ILH title.
Tomorrow, it’s back to work.
Final Team Scores – JV
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Punahou School | 239.0 |
| 2 | Kamehameha – Kapalama | 104.0 |
| 3 | Punahou B | 90.0 |
| 4 | Iolani School | 88.5 |
| 5 | Saint Louis High School | 88.0 |
| 6 | Damien High School | 18.0 |
| 6 | Iolani B | 18.0 |
| 8 | Punahou C | 14.0 |
| 9 | Pac Five | 11.0 |
| 10 | Saint Louis C | 7.0 |
Final Team Scores – Girls
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Kamehameha – Kapalama | 125.0 |
| 2 | Iolani School | 121.0 |
| 3 | Punahou School | 100.0 |
| 4 | Pac Five | 75.0 |
| 5 | Hawaii Baptist Academy | 29.0 |
| 6 | St. Francis | 22.0 |
| 7 | Iolani B | 18.0 |
| 8 | University High School | 12.0 |
| 9 | Honolulu Waldorf | 6.0 |
| 10 | Sacred Hearts | 2.0 |
Final Team Scores – Varsity
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | Punahou School | 209.0 |
| 2 | Kamehameha – Kapalama | 142.0 |
| 3 | Iolani School | 110.0 |
| 4 | Saint Louis high School | 71.0 |
| 5 | Pac Five | 50.5 |
| 6 | Damien High School | 23.0 |
| 7 | Mid Pacific Institute | 21.0 |
| 8 | Christian Academy | 6.5 |
| 9 | Maryknoll School | 6.0 |
| 10 | Word of Life Academy | 5.0 |