Junior Saje-Marie Pedroza-Kanemitsu and sophomores Darius Mynar and Noa Helm ended their season by qualifying for the 2017 Chevron Wrestling Championships on Oʻahu, this weekend.

Mynar and Pedroza-Kanemitsu are Maui Interscholastic League champions in the boys 172-lb. and girls 186-lb. weight classes, Helm placed third at boys 122 lbs.

To see other boys results, click here. To see other girls results, click here.

The wrestling team had its ups and downs throughout the season, but at the end of the season the three players gained a spot in the Hawaiʻi High School Athletic Association state championships.

Many players during the season faced hardships with ineligibility, like senior Timothy Osterhus, who only competed twice due to a concussion.

Despite the setbacks, there were many benefits this season, one being the team’s larger size. They went from “a team that had six participants last year, to now having more than six female players,” Coach Reshard Perryman said.

Although no seniors qualified to participate in the HHSAA championships, some will still stay on to train with those who did.

“Weʻre training for three days,” Pedroza-Kanemitsu said, to prepare for the state championships February 17 and 18.

In preparation for the competition Pedroza-Kanemitsu plans to “bring [her] brother in because he ‘triggers’ [her]” in order to increase aggressiveness while practicing. Ka’eo Pedroza-Kanemitsu is a freshman on the team.

Her main focus though is “getting out from the bottom, escaping, foot work, and mentally preparing myself for the big weekend.”

Meanwhile, Mynar is preparing by “training hard.”

In his first year at Kamehameha Maui wrestling coach, Coach Perryman said he believed the team did “very well” and that “the team exceeded [his] expectations as a coach.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Photo by Courtesy of Ashlee Palimoo

Senior Timothy Osterhus is directed by the referee.