Monday Morning MIL: Maui’s Mata‘afa Grove sisters make a statement in first high school wrestling tournament together

PUKALANI — Before she took on her own title match, Baldwin High School senior wrestler Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove was glued to little sister Taimane Mata‘afa Grove’s championship match on Saturday night at the 56th annual Garner Ivey Maui Invitational Wrestling Tournament at King Kekaulike High School gym.

After Taimane Mata‘afa Grove, a freshman at Maui High School, made quick work of Kalea Markulis of Lahainaluna with a pin in 93 seconds in the 125 girls championship match, Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove was able to shift her focus to her title match at 135 that would take place minutes later. 

In a hard-fought match, Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove, the defending girls state champion at 135 pounds, beat Lahainaluna’s Isabella Cabanilla-Okano with a pin in 4:00.

“She was tough, I definitely have so much to work on,” Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove said. “She was a good opponent.”

While she was happy to start her senior season with a 3-0 record, Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove was more happy to win a tournament championship with her younger sister. They each won titles at the Western States tournament in the summer of 2024, but this was the first tournament they both competed in together in high school.

“It’s cool, it’s good for both of us, it gives us a closer bond,” Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove said, adding that her advice for her younger sister is to the point. “I just tell her to ignore everyone who are haters, just keep pushing, doing better every day, keep getting better every day and practice hard.”

Those words of wisdom are something that Taimane Mata‘afa Grove takes to heart. She weighed in 120 pounds, but she and her coaches decided to move her up to 125 to test her a little bit more.

“We train together and we’re training partners — she pushes me and I push her,” Taimane Mata‘afa Grove said of her big sister. “We just help each other out.”

Last season, she watched her older sister win her state title and said, “I just want that for me now.”

While Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove was the only returning state champion girl from the Maui Interscholastic League in the tournament, Kamehameha Maui senior Blake Abernathy was the only returning MIL state champion boy.

The state champion at 138 pounds last year won at 144 on Saturday with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Miles Uyemura III of Pearl City. The only point scored in the match was an escape that Abernathy was able to pull off in the third and final period.

“I should have done better,” Abernathy said. “I learned I need to work a little bit harder in the practice room and try to take this a little more seriously. That is what preseason is for. I need to work on my cardio.”

Abernathy added, “This will motivate me to work way harder in the wrestling room.”

The meet featured Century High School from Hillsboro, Ore., Pearl City from O‘ahu, and Kapa‘a and Island School from Kaua‘i, to go along with all of the MIL schools.

Lahainaluna placed eight girls in championship matches among the 14 weight classes to win the girls team title with 196 points, 16 in front of second-place Century. Siana Boaz-Vasquez won the title at 140 and Auli‘i Tihada won at 145 for the Lunas.

“It’s always a good sign to win the team title here, especially being in front of the Maui teams,” Lahainaluna head coach Christian Balagso said. “This is a good starting point to gauge. It’s not something you can really bank on because anything can happen throughout the season. This is the starting point and you get a good idea of where you stand.”

Balagso added, “What you do throughout the season is what is going to make the difference. This tournament shows you what you need to work on. You see the positives, you see the negatives.”

Maui High was the top MIL boys team, placing third with 142 points to stand behind Century and Pearl City. The Sabers boys to win titles were Elijah Domingo at 113 and Stylin Ranis at 120.

Third-year head coach for the Sabers Kyle Webb said that recent graduates Tovi Cacal and Tony Passetti, both of whom placed at the state tournament last year, helped build the sport at the Kahului school. Cacal is on the coaching staff this year and Passetti is wrestling at a junior college in Colorado.

“We’ve been building for a couple years now,” Webb said. “They kind of made it popular at Maui High again. It was back in the day, but those guys kind of brought that culture back.”

Webb said that the results show that his team could contend for the MIL boys team title along with perennial powers Lahainaluna and Baldwin.

“This is a very exciting for us,” Webb said. “It was sooner than I expected. I knew that we were headed in the right direction. I knew that snowball effect was coming, but this is quite encouraging.”

Preseason tournaments continue this month with the Hawai‘i Officials Tournament for boys Dec. 19-20 at Leilehua High School and the Pa‘ani Challenge for girls at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Dec. 26-27. The MIL regular season begins in January and the state tournament is Feb. 27-28, 2026, at the Blaisdell Arena on O‘ahu.

56th ANNUAL GARNER IVEY

MAUI INVITATIONAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

At King Kekaulike High School Gym

Saturday’s Finals Results

BOYS

Team—1. Century (Oregon) 172.5 points, 2. Pearl City 156.5, 3. Maui High 142.0, 4. Baldwin 133.5, 5. Kūlanihāko‘i 131.0, 6. King Kekaulike 127.5, 7. Kealakehe 111.0, 8. Kamehameha Maui 106.5, 9. Lahainaluna 105.0, 10. Kauai 81.0, 11. Moloka‘i 66.0, 12. Kaiser 57.5, 13. Lāna‘i 46.0, 14. Hāna 12.0, 15. Island School 12.0, 16. Kapaa 5.0, 17. Seabury Hall 5.0.

106 pounds—1. Lennox Manlapao, Kūlanihāko‘i; 2. Justin Freitas-Yoro, Kamehameha Maui; 3. Arvin Cabico, Lāna‘i; 4. Kaonohi Armitage, Island School; 6 (tie). Pono Auweloa, Kamehameha Maui, and Luke Andres of Maui High.

113—1. Elijah Domingo, Maui High; 2. Brady Dudoit, Moloka‘i; 3. Saul Gomez, Century; 4. Hunter Etrata, Lāna‘i; 5. Evan Black, Kauai; 6. Mason Kurokawa, Kamehameha Maui.

120—1. Stylin Ranis, Maui High; 2. Rykker Manlapao, Kūlanihāko‘i; 3. Jake Hunter, King Kekaulike; 4. Marc-David Manlapao, King Kekaulike; 5. Elijah Caprioni, Lahainaluna; 6. Kaikea Platt, Maui High.

126—1. Jona Dudoit, Moloka‘i; 2. Ryder Armitage, Lahainaluna; 3. Jalen Adric, Baldwin; 4. Rysen Ramiro, Pearl City; 5. Zayden Ling, Kaiser; 6 Xavier Katsuda, Baldwin.

132—1. Jaden Thai, Pearl City; 2. Cody Kam, Pearl City; 3. Mickie Matson, Maui High; 4. Lane Willis, Kaiser; 5. Keahi Yoshimura, Pearl City; 6. Isaiah Rabot, Kauai.

138—1. Ezekiel Fukui, Pearl City; 2. Zane Dean-Verdadero, Pearl City;

3. Mayden Kahalehau, Baldwin; 4. Wyatt Ballard, Kauai; 5. Haweo Gonzales, Lahainaluna; 6. Kai Martin, Kūlanihāko‘i.

144—1. Blake Abernathy. Kamehameha Maui; 2. Miles Iii Uyemura, Pearl City; 3. Niko Barnes, Baldwin; 4. Urijah Rapozo, Kaua‘i; 5. Liam Merle, Kaiser; 6. Stacy Malone, Century.

150—1. Mckenna Manago, Pearl City; 2. Carl Trinidad, Kealakehe; 3. Gerardo Rodriguez Gonzalez, Century; 4. Samuel Gomez, Century; 5. Ezekiel Esperanza, Baldwin; 6. Brycen Castro, King Kekaulike.

157—1. Raymond (Naihe) Akoi, Baldwin; 2. Pedro Deus, Kūlanihāko‘i; 3. Daniel Maldonado, Century; 4th Place – Kaimana Alcoran, Kealakehe; 5. Blake Yatsushiro, King Kekaulike; 6. Tyler Wells, Century.

165—1. Anakin Hayes, Lahainaluna; 2. Kia‘ikūle‘a Kalipi, Kamehameha Maui; 3. Jorge Rodriguez Gonzalez, Century; 4. Niko Takitani, Baldwin; 5. Ethan Shiroma, Maui High; 6. Jonatan Amaya, Kealakehe.

175—1. Ethan Brunner, Century; 2. Cole Reason, Pearl City; 3. Ronin Raboy, King Kekaulike; 4. Chase Loebl, Lahainaluna; 5. Preston Butcher, Kauai; 6. Edward Pali, Maui High.

190—1. Kden Pu, Lahainaluna; 2. Cooper Raboy, King Kekaulike; 3. Tyler Bake, Century; 4. Rio Russell, Lahainaluna; 5. Jake Garcia, Century; 6. Landon Lung, King Kekaulike.

215—1. Hussein Kamel, Century; 2. Jonathan Palencia, Kūlanihāko‘i; 3. Coen Perreira, Maui High; 4. Michael Kendall, Kealakehe; 5. Shaedin Alexander, Kamehameha Maui; 6. Brayden Valencia, Lahainaluna.

285—1. Teyon Bailey, Kealakehe; 2. Rudy Villalobos, King Kekaulike; 3. Saije Villanueva, Kūlanihāko‘i; 4. Jace Planesi, Kamehameha Maui; 5. Ian Avila, King Kekaulike; 6. Alvaro Tafalla, Century.

GIRLS

Team—1. Lahainaluna 196.0 points, 2. Century 180.0, 3. Pearl City 131.0, 4. Baldwin 99.5, 5. King Kekaulike 70.5, 6. Kealakehe 68.5, 7. Kūlanihāko‘i 63.0, 8. Moloka‘i 63.0, 9. Kamehameha Maui 59.0, 10. Hāna 41.0, 11. Kaiser 35.0, 12. Kapaa 18.0, 13. Lāna‘i 15.0, 14. Maui 13.5.

100—1. Serah Yogi, Pearl City; 2. Abigail Tamayose, King Kekaulike; 3. Kendra Soriano, Century; 4. Ada Amaya, Kealakehe; 5. Lily Nezamloo, Kaiser.

105—1. Chloe Obuhanych, Pearl City; 2. Cami Yasutake, Lahainaluna; 3. Logan Teramoto, Pearl City; 4. Nahe Marshall, Kapaa; 5. Elena Riel, Lāna‘i; 6. Sway Silva, Kamehameha Maui.

110—1. Wehiwa Lester, Moloka‘i; 2. Kiana Wedel, Century; 3. Skyler Takitani, Baldwin; 4. Waile`a Ward, Moloka‘i; 5. Kinikapane Pieper, Pearl City; 6. Piikea Holt-Mederos, Pearl City.

115—1. Chaela Gantala, Baldwin; 2. Tiale Tancayo, Moloka‘i; 3. Hila‘i Kapuni, Moloka‘i; 4. Annie Ly, Century; 5. Selena Villegas, Kūlanihāko‘i; 6. Aria Kahula, Lahainaluna.

120—1. Marley Rego, Century; 2. Lili‘a Niles, Lahainaluna; 3. Ellie Nitahara. Kamehameha Maui; 4. Kaanoipuukani Kawaakoa Villiarimo, King Kekaulike; 5. Leila Miyamoto, Kamehameha Maui; 6. Narea Oliveira, Hāna.

125—1. Taimane Mata‘afa Grove, Maui High; 2. Kalea Markulis, Lahainaluna; 3. Lila McClelland, Century; 4. Mia Starkey, Moloka‘i; 5. Nylah Elaban, Moloka‘i; 6. Jolie Adriano, Lahainaluna.

130—1. Sanairee Hasegawa, Baldwin; 2. Safirah Ladore, Lahainaluna; 3. Peyton Diamond, Baldwin; 4. Anabell Ohira, Pearl City; 5. Avah McRoberts, Kapaa; 6. Julia Hudson, Century.

135—1. Te‘ata Mata‘afa Grove, Baldwin; 2. Isabella Cabanilla-Okano, Lahainaluna; 3. Logyn-Lynn Puahala, Pearl City; 4. Emily Nava Calderon, Century; 5. Kylee Adkins, Maui High; 6. Sadie Yuhudah, Pearl City.

140—1. Siana Boaz-Vasquez, Lahainaluna; 2. Adrianna Alejandro, Pearl City; 3. Aaliyah Collo, Kamehameha Maui; 4. Maddie-Mae Sinenci, Hāna; 5. Ada Cyr, Century; 6. Jessica Gallardo, Kealakehe.

145—1. Auli`i Tihada, Lahainaluna; 2. Gabrielle Salas, Kūlanihāko‘i; 3. Nuoli Amituanai-Miranda, King Kekaulike; 4. Arieanna Lawrence, Kamehameha Maui; 5. Jazlyn Boswell, Moloka‘i; 6. Eliana Bocon, Lāna‘i.

155—1. Leticia Martinez, Century; 2. Kinleigh Johnson, Kaiser; 3. Kaimalie Wong-Stone, King Kekaulike; 4. Eliana Scadina, Kealakehe; 5. Halana Bailey, Kealakehe; 6. Jaiyana Kaholokula, Lahainaluna.

170—1. Mahie Bailey, Kealakehe; 2. Brianna Kekona, Lahainaluna; 3. Hayden Smith, Pearl City; 4. Lakota Kamaka, Baldwin; 5. Mishen Akahi-Hotta, Kamehameha Maui; 6. Keaka Helekahi, Hāna.

190—1. Mallak Kamel, Century; 2. Kailii Rodriguez, Hāna.

235—1. Shayla Suetos, Kūlanihāko‘i; 2. Sarai Liufau, Kealakehe.

“Monday Morning MIL” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.