Pacific
Kadena, Edgren bounce back with team triumphs
Stars and Stripes
January 31, 2024
Edgren's Nikolas Hawkins pins CAJ's Xavier Van Dam at 160 pounds. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
Tuesday’s heartbreak became Wednesday’s joy for Kadena’s and Robert D. Edgren’s wrestling teams.
A day after coming up four points behind island-rival Kubasaki in the individual-freestyle tournament team standings, the Panthers routed the Dragons 41-18 to capture their seventh Far East Division I Tournament title and their first since 2010.
Meanwhile, the Eagles won their 12th Division II Far East team title, surprising favored Christian Academy Japan 35-25 in their dual-meet final. The win made longtime Edgren coach Justin Edmonds the leader in DODEA-Pacific coaching titles with 14.
Freshman Joey Phillips was especially happy with Edgren’s team title. The day before, Phillips was leading defending champion Hugo Miyamoto of St. Mary’s 8-2 in the 107-pound final and he and Edmonds thought Phillips had clinched a technical fall.
Instead, the bout was allowed to continue and Miyamoto pinned Phillips.
“I’m very happy and proud of my team for pulling through,” Phillips said. “I’m disappointed with my loss yesterday, but we fought back. And I’m also proud to be a part of coach Edmonds’ team. He’s pulled me through injury and pain just to get me here to Far East.”
Phillips pinned Leaf Tai of the Knights, one of four wins by pinfall for the Eagles, along with Anthony Mulhall (114), Haruki Jones (121) and Nikolas Hawkins (160).
Edmonds at season’s beginning said he didn’t even want to be coaching, but “the guys asked me to come back, so I came along for the ride. They did all the work,” Edmonds said. He has coached all Edgren’s wrestling winners and guided teams to a Far East D-II girls soccer and cheerleading title.
Kubasaki's Tim Cope worked a decision over Kadena's Sam Valdez-Pinon, but the Panthers won the D-I dual meet final 41-18. (TeAnna Reimers/Special to Stripes)
In the D-I final, Kadena continued its pattern of winning dual meets against Kubasaki; during the regular-season, the Panthers won all six duals against the Dragons, with Wednesday’s victory making it seven.
Coming in second by four points, 86-82, to Kubasaki “didn’t set well with us,” said Joey Wood, the Panthers’ third year coach.
Heavyweight Nathaniel Macias in the meet’s second bout surprised Far East champion Anthony Finegan of Kubasaki, which Wood said “set the tone” for the rest of the dual meet.
“That hyped the team up,” Wood said. “We had hoped we would take both (dual meet and freestyle team) titles. But coming home with one, it feels good ending it like this.”
Kadena’s Cedric Ferguson (107), Peyton Allen (133), Joseph Oh (145), Tre Shears (189) and two-time Far East Outstanding Wrestler Jeremiah Drummer each won by pin to lead the way for the Panthers.
Drummer is just the third wrestler in tournament history to earn Outstanding Wrestler honors in back-to-back years, the other two being Zolboo Enkhbayar of Brent International in 2003 and 2004 and Hunter Lane of Daegu in 2017 and 2018.
