Farmers Finish Seasons Strong

By Sage Yamashita, Intern Reporter

Farmer pride rose throughout the islands of Hawaii, Maui and Molokai last week. The Lady Farmers Basketball team traveled to the Division II HHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament games in Hilo, and the Swimming and Wrestling teams gave it their all at competitions on Maui – all while Farmers’ friends and family supported them from home. 

The Lady Farmers drew some fire from Kilauea while on Hawaii Island for their last games and played fiercely. After traveling the 141-mile distance, Molokai’s first game in the tournament was against Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA). The girls played hard, but HPA took the win with a score of 68 to 44. This loss didn’t end the journey for the Lady Farmers, who went on to face Honokaa in the consolation semifinals. Running the ball up the court and through legs, Molokai finished the season 6-6 with their last score of Honokaa 47, Molokai 27. Each of the state games was watched by many Farmer fans as they were streamed online. 

About 50 miles away at the Kihei Aquatic Center, the Swim team took laps of victory in their Maui Interscholastic League Championship tournament. This tournament was rescheduled from its original date two weeks ago due to the flooding weather. This postponement didn’t phase the swimmers, especially swimmer Mauli Pupuhi. Pupuhi is a senior who swam the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races. His incredible time placed him fourth, qualifying him for the state championships next week on Oahu in both events. His teammates Kaileena Harris Gramberg got ninth overall in the 50 free and Kona Habon ninth overall in the 50 free. At the Aquatic Center following Pupuhi’s victory, Molokai’s swimmers honored their seniors with their hard work and dedication to the sport. 

On the other side of Maui in Lahaina, Farmers Westling was dominating the mats. Head Coach Randy Manley said specific results weren’t available before the press deadline but gave some comments on the day. 

“Makana Nelson-Anglesea at 145 [pounds] had a good day. He went 3-0. Jona Dudoit at 120 also performed well closing the gap with his toughest competition this season from Lanai,” said Manley. “We are looking forward to finishing out the regular season next week with some more good performances as we gear up for the post-season.” 

Spring sports are next up! Watch out for boys’ volleyball, baseball, softball and judo in the last months of the 2022-2023 Farmer year.