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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