✰ The Maui News 2022 ✰ ✰ MIL Wrestling All- Stars ✰
Bright futures ahead for state champions Ferreira, Labuanan
Liana Ferreira knows precisely what her immediate wrestling future holds. Mikah Labuanan is not quite as certain, but like Ferreira, he has quite a future in front of him.
Both of the Maui Interscholastic League standouts walked away with state titles in March and are The Maui News MIL wrestlers of the year for girls and boys, respectively.
Ferreira, a Baldwin High School senior and state champion at 102 pounds, is The Maui News MIL Girl Wrestler of the Year. She was the only senior among the four state champion girls from the MIL and was the state runner- up in 2020 at 97 pounds.
“When I first found out, I was so excited because I feel honored and very grateful to join the list of MIL wrestlers of the year because I get to leave my legacy behind,” Ferreira said. “I will be the first Ferreira.”
Ferreira will continue her wrestling career at Southern Oregon University in the fall.
“I cannot wait for that,” she said. Her older sister Alyssa Ferreira is a 2020 Baldwin graduate currently playing softball at Bushnell University in Eugene, Ore., and her older brother Brian Ferreira graduated from Baldwin five years ago and is autistic.
“I make sure he’s fed, he brushes his teeth every morning and he packs his bag for when we leave the house,” Liana Ferreira said. “I feel very grateful to be able to do things that he’s not able to do.”
Parents Elizabeth and Ryan Ferreira have been a large part of Liana’s success.
“They’ve been my greatest support system, they’ve been there for me through everything, and I’m so grateful because I wouldn’t have accomplished anything without them,” Liana Ferreira said. “They just pushed me to become a better athlete and a better student.”
Ferreira is joined on the MIL AllStar team by fellow Bears Nicole Fernandez ( 97 pounds), Jahlia Miguel ( 145), Kaceylee Pua ( 155), and Shiloh Kamaka ( 168); Lahainaluna’s Naiomi Kulukulualani- Sales ( 107), Kivah Caballero ( 117), CrystinDior Treu ( 122), Alicia Frank ( 127), Teani Medeiros- Maielua ( 132), and Catherine Asami ( 184); Molokai’s Barbara Simon ( 112); and Hana’s Lilata Sansone ( 138).
The MIL All- Star teams are comprised of MIL and state champions. State placers make up the honorable mentions list.
Ferreira joins an impressive list of former MIL Girl Wrestlers of the Year, several of whom she watched as as youth wrestler growing up in the sport.
“I feel very honored because I worked so hard and I looked up to them since I was, like, little,” Ferreira said. “Just being on the list with them makes me feel very accomplished.”
Labuanan is a Kamehameha Maui freshman who was MIL runner- up, but is the clear choice for The Maui News MIL Boy Wrestler of the Year after winning the state title at 126 pounds over Baldwin’s Tobey Ravida, a former state champ who won the MIL final over Labuanan at the same weight class.
Labuanan was the only state champion boy from the MIL in 2022.
The 15- year- old Labuanan has been wrestling since he was 5. His club is Team Maui.
“I’m very honored and humbled to be recognized as the MIL wrestler of the year,” Labuanan said. “I couldn’t have done this without all my partners, mentors and coaches.”
Labuanan is joined on the MIL All- Star team by Warriors teammate Nainoa Silva ( 132); Baldwin’s Keona HolokaiBasa ( 106), Marcus Marinas ( 113), Ravida ( 126), Bryson Adric ( 145), Nai Hasegawa ( 152), Gabriel Valdez ( 160), and Aaron Hue Sing ( 195); Lanai’s Diesel Del Rosario ( 120); Lahainaluna’s Christian Clarion ( 138), Leonaitasi Vehikite ( 170), Keawe KaneKeahi ( 182), and Kolinaise Latu ( 285); and Molokai’s Leo Kalipi ( 220).
Silva, Happy Nitahara and Kalaheo Sakamoto are wrestling partners that Labuanan credited with helping him, as well as KSM assistant coach Giancarlo Crivelli. Labuanan’s father Mike Labuanan is the KSM head coach.
“I always have a lot of fun ( in the wrestling room), all my friends being there, always having a super good time, positive environment — we love to push each other,” Mikah Labuanan said.
Labuanan is also a standout soccer player — he plays for Valley Isle Soccer Academy and was recently a guest player for the Big Island Rush team that won its division at the state HYSA Cup tournament. He is also part of the Hawaii ’ 07 Olympic Development team.
He has not made a final decision on what sport he may play going forward. Certainly his wrestling prowess is impressive — he rebounded to beat Ravida 7- 4 in the state final after losing in the final seconds of the MIL championship match.
“When I lost that ( MIL) match I wasn’t sad, I was super amped,” Labuanan said. “I always knew it was going to be me and Tobey in the state finals. Since our first match came down to the last seconds — it was very close — I knew I had what it took to beat him, which gave me so much motivation for our ( state) finals match.”