Sports

Farmers Afar: Rizpah Umi

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

In a new series, the Dispatch celebrates former Molokai athletes who have taken their homegrown skills to new stages off island. If you know of a Molokai athlete competing at college, the professional level or elsewhere, let us know by emailing editor@themolokaidispatch.com or calling 552-2781.

The first Native Hawaiian wrestler in Wayland Baptist University (WBU) history is already making a name for herself and the small island she hails from. Just a freshman at WBU, 2014 Molokai High School graduate Rizpah Umi was named an All-American wrestler last month.

Umi earned the distinction after finishing eighth out of 29 wrestlers from across the country.…

Farmers First Look, Part 2

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

With many athletes and coaches going straight from winter sport championships to spring sport practices, there is little rest for Molokai High Farmers. The athletic department takes on its largest season of the school year with seven different sports this spring: volleyball, golf, tennis, baseball, track and field, softball and this year’s newest addition of judo. In the second of a two-part series, the Dispatch takes an early look at three sports on the cusp of their Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) seasons.

Judo

While Molokai High School is offering judo for the first time ever, its coaches are anything but novices.…

Farmers First Look, Part 1

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

With many athletes and coaches going straight from winter sport championships to spring sport practices, there is little rest for Molokai High Farmers. The athletic department takes on its largest season of the school year with seven different sports this spring: volleyball, golf, tennis, baseball, track and field, softball and this year’s newest addition of judo. In a two-part series, the Dispatch takes an early look at the first four sports that have already begun their Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) seasons.

Baseball

When it comes to the defending MIL champion Farmers, Head Coach Scottie Rapanot has yet to see anything that needs significant changes.…

Boys’ Tennis Earns First Team Victory

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

The Molokai boys’ and girls’ tennis teams hit the road this past weekend with matches Friday at Maui Prepatory Academy in Kapalua and Saturday at Maui High in Kahului.

On Friday at Kapalua the boys won 4-1, and the girls lost 3-1. Shiloh Kawaahau and Preston Pascua won in singles and Kaiea Dowling and Decker Bicoy won in first doubles. Michelle McGuire and Althea Cariaga won second doubles for the girls.

Saturday’s matches were both won by the Sabers. The Molokai boys lost 3-2 and the girls lost 4-1. Preston Pascua won third singles, while Luke Kikukawa and Noeau Likua won second doubles.…

Molokai Baseball Sweeps St. Anthony

Wednesday, March 18th, 2015

History was made on Friday the 13th at Kaunakakai’s Duke Maliu Regional Park.

Molokai High School senior pitcher Hanalei Dudoit-Enos pitched a five-inning perfect game and had nine strikeouts in a 10-0 win over St. Anthony to open Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) Division II play.

“He did super good. All that hard work he did pays off and he has really matured,” said Head Coach Scottie Rapanot. “He has bright future. All he has to do is keep working hard and he has the potential to  play college baseball.”

As a senior, Dudoit-Enos said his goal is just “to show leadership” for younger teammates on the field.…

Six State Medals for Wrestling

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

At Hawaii’s state wrestling championships last weekend, 432 wrestlers from nearly 50 schools competed in 780 bouts over the course of two days.

Molokai athletes refused to get lost in the crowd.

Despite the staggering load of state-level competition, six of the 11 Farmer wrestlers who hit the mats emerged with medals, which are earned by finishing in the top six in a weight class. Molokai’s top finisher was runner-up Alexandria Simon, who challenged a world title-winning wrestler in the 132-pound championship final.

“It’s crazy and you know that you’re one of the best in the state just making it there, because you know all the people around you are dedicated to the sport,” said Molokai junior Cendall Manley.…

Wrestlers Pin Down 13 MIL Medals

Thursday, March 5th, 2015

One of the smaller schools in the Maui Interscholastic League (MIL) grabbed a big part of the spotlight at last weekend’s MIL championships. Molokai High School wrestlers snapped up 13 medals for finishing within the top three in their weight classes. Of those, 10 finished within the top two and will be going to the state championships this Friday.

Molokai’s girls’ team took second and the boys came in third. The Farmers produced three champions: Kailaoe Cabanting (119), Saydee Makaiwi (129) and Alexandria Simon (134).

“Our conditioning is really good,” said freshman Caele Manley (115), who came in second and qualified for states.…

Stand Up World Tour at Turtle Bay

Friday, February 27th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Clare Seeger Mawae

The opening of the Stand Up World Tour for 2015 was the Turtle Bay Women’s Pro along with the Na Kama Kai Youth Challenge leading to the main event, the Sunset Pro at Sunset Beach. Alex Mawae from Molokai had the experience of his young life with challenging conditions, big surf and being around kids who just ripped in the surf. The World Tour has always had the Na Kama Kai events added in for young and upcoming paddlers to attend. This year at Turtle Bay, the youth outnumbered the women with 20 youth competitors.…