Beach wresting ends championships on a high note
The 2014 Oceania Wrestling Championships concluded this past Saturday with Beach Wrestling held at Utulei Beach with the Free-Style competition taking place on Friday at the Governor H. Rex Lee Auditorium.
This was the first time the Oceania Wrestling Championships were hosted by American Samoa making it a historic event. Teams competing were New Zealand, Australia, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and host country American Samoa.
The championships that took place from last Wednesday through Saturday, had some of the best wrestlers in the Oceania Region competing, which no doubt brought in money to the economy for the momentous days of the event.
According to the president of the American Samoa Amateur Wrestling Association (ASAWA) Ethan Lake, three of the major motels on island, Sadie’s by the Sea, Sadie Thompson Inn and Tradewinds were full with the contingents of competitors and their teams.
Lake noted he would like to thank everyone that helped make the Oceania Championships a success and thanked all of the competitors, their coaches and supporters that were part of this prestigious and historic event.
The championships had New Zealand and Australia dominating most of the tournament with team American Samoa holding its own with the majority of its wrestlers either being new to the sport or without much experience, with a few exceptions.
Tokelau, which sent one competitor, Ilai Elekana Manu, was able to earn three medals in the Senior Mens 80kg: he earned a Gold in Greco-Roman, Bronze in Free-Style (86kg) and a Bronze in Beach Wrestling.
Tonga had only one representative as well, Sione Lui, who was able to earn his way to a Bronze Medal in the Senior Mens 71kg in Greco-Roman.
Marshall Islands with their lone wrestler, female competitor Keju Ilania, earned herself a Gold on the first day in the 70kg Free-Style. This was a qualifier match for the Youth Olympic Games. She also earned a Gold on day 2 in the Cadets 70kg and a Gold in the Juniors (67kg) of the Oceania Championships. Female competitors compete only in Free-Style.
The last day of the championship was Saturday with Beach Wrestling. Samoa News was not able to retrieve the results of that day, as of press time. Look for the results in tomorrow’s Samoa News Sports edition.
Here are the results on day three last Friday for the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners when the Men’s Free-Style competition was completed.
CADET:
42kg
Gold Tiira Tekariewe Kiribati
46kg
Gold Ryan McCormick New Zealand
Silver Faifua Ipolito American Samoa
Bronze Jordan Leilua American Samoa
50kg
Gold Ronin Ainsley New Zealand
54kg
Gold Tyler Corbett New Zealand
Silver Brahm Richards New Zealand
Bronze Suraj Singh New Zealand
58kg
Gold Douglas Lloyd New Zealand
Silver John Scanlan American Samoa
Bronze Jesse Leilua/Sali’itu American Samoa
63kg
Gold Jarvis Tarkong Palau
Silver Tini Lam Yuen American Samoa
Bronze Matthew Downes/James Scanlan New Zealand/American Samoa
69kg
Gold Jordan Marshall New Zealand
Silver Teo Pouri-Lare New Zealand
Bronze Maxwell Koria/Matthew Oxenham Solomon Islands/New Zealand
76kg
Gold Lafeta Vou American Samoa
Silver Gerume Petrus Palau
Bronze Andronichus Fa’ai’u/Samisoni Vailahi American Samoa/American Samoa
85kg
Gold Matafeo Manaia New Zealand
Silver Wayne Filige American Samoa
Bronze Schey McMoore American Samoa
100kg
Gold Ben Pratt Australia
Silver Ueseli Isieli American Samoa
Bronze Nimoa Elisara/Tevita Tuitavake American Samoa/American Samoa
JUNIOR:
50kg
Gold Ronin Ainsley New Zealand
Silver Faifua Ipolito American Samoa
Bronze Ryan McCormick New Zealand
55kg
Gold Tyler Corbett New Zealand
Silver Suraj Singh New Zealand
Bronze Tapeni Suti/Jesse Leilua American Samoa/American Samoa
60kg
Gold Liam Brice Neylond Australia
Silver Douglas Lloyd New Zealand
Bronze Aaron Thomas Maher/Seali’itu Mauga Australia/American Samoa
66kg
Gold Jake Conrad Dornford Australia
Silver Jarvis Tarkong Palau
Bronze Tini Lam Yuen/Hayden Smith American Samoa/New Zealand
74kg
Gold Jayden Alexander Lawrence Australia
Silver Jordan Marshall New Zealand
Bronze Joshua Andrew/Maxwell Koria New Zealand/Solomon Islands
84kg
Gold Joshua Downes New Zealand
Silver Fanolua Fanolua American Samoa
Bronze Wayne Filige/Rengiil Veki American Samoa/Palau
96kg
Gold Wesley Ioane American Samoa
Silver Stephan Leasiolagi American Samoa
Bronze Nolan Puletasi/Toese Fuifatu American Samoa/American Samoa
120kg
Gold Sione Kava American Samoa
Silver Tevita Tuitavake American Samoa
Bronze Va’atofu Sauavo/Solomona Uli American Samoa/American Samoa
SENIOR:
61kg
Gold Thongsinh Soukananh New Zealand
Silver Adam Troy Colleti Australia
Bronze Liam Brice Neylond Australia
65kg
Gold Craig Miller New Zealand
Silver Jake Conrad Dornford Australia
Bronze Lowe Bingham Nauru
74kg
Gold Jayden Alexander Lawrence Australia
Silver Joshua Andrew New Zealand
Bronze Iabin Tokia Kiribati
86kg
Gold Stephen Hill New Zealand
Silver Aaron Quinlan New Zealand
Bronze Ilai Manu/Connor James Evans Tokelau/Australia
97kg
Gold Samuel Belkin New Zealand
Silver Taonatetika Koru Kiribati
Bronze Wesley Ioane American Samoa
125kg
Gold Florian Temengil Palau
Silver Va’atofu Sauavo American Samoa
Bronze Joseph Lui Kuey American Samoa