Isaiah Torres places 3rd in HHSAA Boys Wrestling Championships

Wrestler Isaiah Torres placed third in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys State Wrestling Championship held last Friday and Saturday at the Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

Torres, son of CNMI Department of Corrections Commissioner Anthony Torres, secured a podium finish in the 126-lb weight class after he put up better numbers than Dylan Landford and won in a 4-3 decision.

Second place was Kulika Corpuz and first place went to Hunter Berger, who won via majority decision.

Isaiah said winning third place was a “very bittersweet moment” for him. He said, “I sacrificed so much to be here and left all my friends, family, comfort, and my home on Saipan to continue pursuing what I love here in Hawaii.”

The 16-year-old said that he felt he could’ve done more in his match, “but all that hard work and sacrifice leading up to that moment really made me emotional and grateful for the opportunity. I had wrestled my third place match opponent earlier in the tournament in the quarterfinals and I beat him in a close match.”

Isaiah, now a junior from Kalani Boys High School, attended Kagman High School when their family moved back to Saipan from the U.S. But his passion was in wrestling and decided to move to Hawaii to pursue it.

He started wrestling in Arizona after quitting football and fell in love with it from there. “I found the sport as a way to express myself and feel free from the problems all around me. It really has shaped me into a more disciplined, hard-working person,” said the younger Torres.

The older Torres said of his son’s accomplishments, “I am proud of all the hard work and efforts he puts into his wrestling and academics. He is committed to his sport, while maintaining a 3.9 GPA in AP classes.”

When asked what advice he gives his son in what he does, he said he instilled in him qualities to help him develop and cultivate a growth mindset of mental toughness, grit, and resilience.

“I have always encouraged him to remain committed to his goals, to have a good attitude, always be respectful, assertive, humble, and be a good human being. To always finish things he started and that no matter how tough things get to never give up. I encouraged him to do better than me in every aspect of life and be committed to a lifetime of self-improvement. He’s on track to doing just that and I’m proud of the young man he is becoming,” said the DOC commissioner.

He added, “I also tell him to always put God at the center of everything, because God will guide him in the right direction.”