Greco Roman Wrestling
On Day 1 of the Oceania Championships, the highlight of the day was Vicente Elidchedong Mettao as he was able to beat his opponents from Tahiti and American Samoa to win the gold medal in the Greco roman Under 17 competitions at the 71kg division. Other matches included Filimoto Remoket Carter who wrestled in the U17 GR 80kg and defeated Tahiti but lost to American Samoa. Filimoto won the silver medal. Shawn-Lee Basilio Tokaski won the silver medal in the Greco Roman U20 60kg after wrestling New Zealand who won the gold medal. Rondon Kemesong competed in the U17 GR 92kg and won the bronze medal and Rondon also competed in the U20 GR 87kg division and won the bronze medal. Manifanur Marino competed in the U20 GR 87kg as well and wrestled tough matches and placed 4th overall. Kane Tarkong wrestled in the GR U17 and won the silver medal while Tahiti won the Gold in the GR 65kg division. Kazuo Beltau competed in the U20 GR 72kg and did well but lost to Tahiti who won gold and Kazuo silver medal.
Womens Wrestling
In the womens wrestling competition Cadet Under 17 61kg division, Hina Brel of Palau wrestled Sienna Forgie of New Zealand and also Chisholm of New Zealand, but lost the match. New Zealand went on to win the gold medal and Brel the bronze medal.
In the womens senior 67kg division, Uilau Tarkong wrestled against Aniseta Acosta of American Samoa. Uilau was able to score a thrown early in the match but Vaa came back to win the match with a takedown. Vaa won gold and Uilau silver.
Freestyle Mens Wrestling
In the mens freestyle competition, Vicente Elidchedong Mettao wrestled against Konrad Wisnewski of New Zealand in the U17 71kg division, but lost in a very close and tough match. Konrad went on defeat Tahiti as well while Vicente wrestled American Samoa and won. Ben lost in the finals to Ateanui Mati of Tahiti. Vicente won the bronze medal, New Zealand silver and Tahiti won gold. Next was Filimoto Carter who also competed in the U17 freestyle competition and won the bronze medal. Shawn-Lee wrestled in the U20 freestyle 61kg division. Shawn-Lee Tokaski wrestled a tough match but lost in the finals to Kruize Pelesa of New Zealand. Shawn won the bronze medal. Filimoto Carter competed in the U17 freestyle 80kg competition. New Zealand won the gold, American Samoa silver and Carter the bronze. Filimoto also competed in the U20 FS 79kg and placed 4th overall. Manifanur Marino was able to secure the bronze medal U20 86kg freestyle competition. American Samoa won the gold. Rondon Kemesong competed in the U17 FS 92kg and won the bronze medal and placed 4th in the U20 FS 86kg. Kane Tarkong competed in the U17 freestyle 60kg division and wrestled a tough match against New Zealand, but it was New Zealand Wairangi Sargent who won the gold medal. Unfortunately, Kazuo Beltau was unable to wrestle due to a slight injury to his hand but competed the next day for Beach Wrestling.
Beach Wrestling
The Beach Wrestling event was held at Saide’s By the Sea. This was the most exciting as the athletes competed on the sand. Filimoto Carter was able to win silver in the Under 17, 80 kg division. He won silver; Kane Tarkong competed in the Under 17, 60kg division and won the silver medal, while New Zealand won gold in the 60kg division. Rondon Kemeson won the bronze medal and Uilau competed against Aniseta Acosta of American Samoa and while both of them were able to score with a tie of 2-2, it was Acosta who scored the last point for the gold and Uilau silver, the silver medal.
Team Palau sent a young team of cadets and junior wrestlers and for all of them, except Uilau who was the team leader, this was the first time for them to compete. We anticipate that this competition will help them prepare for the Pacific Mini Games. Overall Palau won a total of 16 medals, to include 1 Gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze medals. Many thanks to American Samoa Wrestling Association for hosting the competition, Palau NOC, our sponsors and families for their support as well. Next, our team will travel to Apia, Samoa to take part in the More than Medals Camp before returning back home to Palau. It should be noted that the kids also visited the American Samoa National Museum and while they were there, they were able to perform a Palauan Dance and share our culture with everyone. They also attended the church in Fagatogo and sang a Palauan Church Song and performed the dance as well.