Pacific
Japanese school shows off its wrestling prowess
Stars and Stripes
January 21, 2023
Wendell Harrison of host Nile C. Kinnick defeated Shonan Military Academy’s Yuki Nakamura to win the Beast of the East 158-pound weight class at Yokosuka Naval Base on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Harrison’s upset win also won him the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler individual trophy. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan – It was a typical performance for Wendell Harrison in his two years at Nile C. Kinnick:
A slew of big-point throws, a win by technical fall here, a pin there, a weight-class championship and being named Outstanding Wrestler of the “Beast of the Far East” tournament.
The question being, was Saturday his last in a Red Devils uniform?
The junior 158-pounder is due to transfer to Hawaii next week, Red Devils coach Stan Hovell said, though the family is trying to delay the move to allow Harrison to compete in the Far East tournament later this month.
“A little,” Hovell said, asked if there was some hope Harrison might stay. “His dad is going to try to push it back again.”
Whether he stays or goes, Harrison was the toast of a “Beast” tournament that served as the final tune-up for the Far East meet for 11 of the 12 teams present.
“Four-point throws and wrestling smart,” Hovell said of Harrison.
Nanako Takeuchi of Shonan Military Academy pinned Kubasaki’s Gwen Pantaleon to win the Beast of the East 101-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Hanano Ohya of Shonan Military Academy defeated Kadena’s Josiah Drummer to win the Beast of the East 108-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Sebastian Campbell of M.C. Perry defeated Kubasaki’s Gavin Ocampo to win the Beast of the East 115-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Taisei Sugawara of Shonan Military Academy defeated Kinnick’s Maverick Kente to win the Beast of the East 122-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Masaya Toyokawa of St. Mary’s defeated Perry’s Kail Kitko to win the Beast of the East 129-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Bryce Clement of American School in Japan defeated Kubasaki’s Godfrey Wray to win the Beast of the East 141-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Akira Kaneko of Shonan Military Academy twisted up St. Mary’s Taiyo Mitsuoka en route to claiming the Beast of the East 148-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Josh Hernandez of host Nile C. Kinnick pinned Shonan Military Academy’s Sota Yamanaka to win the Beast of the East 168-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
Jeremiah Drummer of Kadena is declared the winner over St. Mary’s Matthew Araya after winning the Beast of the East 180-pound weight class. (James Kimber/Special to Stripes)
But the talk of the tournament was of Shonan Military Academy, which outdistanced Kinnick for the team title 79 points to 50 – and featured girls in the lightest two weight classes, each of whom won their respective weights.
“The girls were incredible,” Hovell said of Nanako Takeuchi, the 101-pound champion, and Hanano Ohya, who took the 108-pound title. All told, five Shonan wrestlers won weight classes.
That far outdistanced the rest of the group, including DODEA-Japan’s six schools, Kadena and Kubasaki of Okinawa and three Tokyo-area Kanto Plain international school teams.
Sebastian Campbell of Matthew C. Perry took the 115-pound title, St. Mary’s Masaya Toyokawa was victorious at 129, American School In Japan’s Bryce Clement won at 141, Kinnick’s Joshua Hernandez won at 168, Kadena’s Jeremiah Drummer was the 180-pound winner, Christian Academy Japan’s Jamie Marshall took the 215-pound title and Kubasaki’s Anthony Finegan won at heavyweight.
The Far East meet is next, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, with the individual weight-class finals on the 31st and the dual-meet finals on Feb. 1.
Former Stripes reporter James Kimber contributed to this report.
