Hawaii Grown notebook: Basketball, baseball, softball, wrestling
Mar. 8—Rysan Leong, Kalaheo'19 : The Menlo (Calif.) junior won a national title at 165 pounds at the NAIA Wrestling Championships in Park City, Kan., on Saturday. Leong's stunning run to the title came as the No. 6 seed with victories over three of the top four seeds.
WRESTLING—Rysan Leong, Kalaheo'19 : The Menlo (Calif.) junior won a national title at 165 pounds at the NAIA Wrestling Championships in Park City, Kan., on Saturday. Leong's stunning run to the title came as the No. 6 seed with victories over three of the top four seeds. Leong finished 5-0 and opened the tournament after a first-round bye with 3-2 decision over the No. 11 seed. Following a 4-1 upset decision over the No. 3 seed, Long came back to open Day 2 with a 5-4 decision win over the No. 2 seed in the semifinals. Facing No. 4 seed David Rubio of Corban in the final, Leong was awarded the winning point for riding time to earn a 3-2 decision, giving him three of his five wins by a point. It's the first All-American status for Leong in his four-year career.
MEN'S BASKETBALL—Tolu Smith, Kahuku'18 : The Mississippi State senior forward was named to the All-SEC first team on Monday. Smith is one of seven Power 5 players to average at least 15 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while also shooting 55 percent from the field. He has scored in double digits in 15 consecutive games with eight double-doubles and four 20-10 outings during that streak. Smith finished eighth in the SEC in points per game (15.4 ) and also ranked in the top three in field-goal percentage (58.3, first ), double-doubles (nine, tied for second ) and rebounds (8.32, third ).—Jake Holtz, Damien'20 : The Whitman (Wash.) junior combo guard finished with nine points on 4-for-7 shooting with four rebounds, three steals and two assists in a 74-59 loss to Simon Fraser in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday. Holtz set career highs this year in points per game (12.5 ), rebounds per game (6.1 ) and minutes played (20..6 per game ).
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL—Tori Maeda, 'Iolani'19 : The Central Washington senior guard set a tournament single-game record with 12 assists and added three steals in an 88-62 win over Simon Fraser in the opening round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday. Maeda had five points, two assists and a steal in a 75-62 loss to Montana State in the second round of the tournament. CWU earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division II Championships and will play No. 3 seed and 23rd-ranked Cal State San Marcos in the opening round on Friday.
BASEBALL—Maui Ahuna, Hilo'20 : The Tennessee junior shortstop, a Kansas transfer, made his season debut on Feb. 28 and singled in four at-bats in a win over Charleston Southern. Ahuna, who missed the Volunteers' first six games, went 2-for-8 with a double, two walks, two runs scored and four RBIs in a sweep of Gonzaga over the weekend.—Caleb Lomavita, Saint Louis'21 : The California sophomore catcher went 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBIs in a 16-1 win over Ohio State on Saturday in the Frisco Classic. Lomavita also doubled, walked and scored a run in a 9-5 loss to Oklahoma on Friday.—Mason Hirata, Waiakea'22 : The Nevada freshman second baseman went 3-for-7 with a walk, a double, five runs scored and three RBIs to help the Wolf Pack sweep a three-game series against Hofstra over the weekend.—Jake Tsukada, Punahou'19 : The Portland junior second baseman hit.333 (4-for-12 ) with two doubles and a walk as the Pilots split a four-game series with Utah Valley over the weekend.—Trayden Tamiya, Waiakea'18 : The Air Force senior second baseman hit.333 (4-for-12 ) with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs as the Falcons lost two of three to Charleston Southern over the weekend.—Kelena Sauer, Kamehameha'20 : The San Diego State junior right-hander worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout to earn his second save in an 8-5 win over UNLV on Friday.
SOFTBALL—Allie Capello, 'Iolani'22 : The Pacific (Calif.) freshman left-fielder started all five games in the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament and hit.375 (3-for-8 ) with a double, a walk and two runs scored to help UOP finish 2-3 over the weekend.—D'Asha Saiki, Punahou'20 : The California junior second baseman finished 3-for-11 with a walk and an RBI to help the Golden Bears go 2-2 in the DeMarini Invitational over the weekend. Saiki, who is second on the team with a.375 batting average, is hitting.464 (13-for-28 ) over her past 11 games for Cal, which is 16-4 this season.—Lauren Almeida, Kamehameha-Maui'21 : The Utah Tech sophomore shortstop hit.385 (5-for-13 ) with a double, a triple, four walks, six runs scored and two RBIs to help the Trailblazers finish 3-2 in a tournament they hosted over the weekend.—Rylee Nishimoto, Mililani'20 : The Sonoma State junior left fielder finished 4-for-13 with a walk, a run scored and two RBIs in a four-game series split against Cal State San Bernardino over the weekend.—Momi Lyman, Kamehameha'21 : The Whitworth (Wash.) sophomore right-hander earned the complete-game victory against Pacific (Ore.) on Sunday, allowing two runs on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts to improve to 2-1 for the season.
MEN'S TENNIS—Ryo Minakata, Hawaii Prep'19 : The Boise State senior won in straight sets at No. 6 singles to help the Broncos defeat LMU 4-2 on Sunday. Minakata has won his last three singles matches to improve to 10-11 this season.
MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD—Keola Sanchez, Kamehameha'20 : The Pacific Lutheran junior was named the Northwest Conference Track Athlete of the Week on Monday. Sanchez won the 100-meter dash at the Ed Boitano Invitational over the weekend with a personal-record time of 10.99 seconds. It's the fastest time this season in conference and 12th in NCAA Division III. Sanchez also played fourth at the invitational in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.94 seconds.------Compiled by Billy Hull, Star-Advertiser. To submit an athlete for publication email : bhull @staradvertiser.com.
