The Sports Leigh-Out Dec. 13-19

Hafa Adai and Tirow sports fans, this is Leigh Gases with this week’s Sports Leigh-Out brought to you by Joeten Motors!

Let’s take a closer look at what our athletes have been up to in off-island competitions and on their home turf—whether it’s on the pitch, mat, courts, fields, track, pools, or the beautiful ocean.

4-peat for MHS boys soccer team

It’s an unprecedented 4-peat for the Marianas High School Dolphins soccer team as they battled and won against a formidable Saipan Southern High School Manta Rays squad. When the dust settled, Tyler Omelau’s clutch free kick clinched the win, 1-0, in added time after regulation during the 2025-2026 PSS-NMIFA Boys High School Soccer League championships on Thursday at the NMI Soccer Training Center.

The MVP award went to Omelau, while the Golden Boot award went to teammate Paul Lizama who scored 14 in the season. Third place went to Kagman High School.

Stay tuned for the full story later today.

All-or-nothing Cage of Fire II erupts with fiery, nonstop carnage

It was a merciless bloodbath across all 18 fight cards of boxing, kickboxing, and MMA, as Trench Warz Promotions rolled out a decisive, no-judges, knockout-or-draw format in Cage of Fire II last Saturday at the Garapan Central Park Roundhouse.

With that, Guam and CNMI fighters decked the cage with their blood, sweat, and tears as they brought their firepower and laid it all out in the octagon. The semi-main and main events didn’t disappoint, with technical knockouts scored by both Guam fighters. Every fight was a push to the finish—knock out your opponent or survive to a draw—and it kept fight fans on edge from the opening bell to the final round.

Just before midnight, the bell rang for the final time for the long-awaited main event between Guam’s Dylan Benavente of Benavente Striking and independent fighter Cody Dela Cruz.

Tension filled the arena, and from the opening bell, Benavente looked eager to recreate his six-second knockout from the inaugural Cage of Fire last year.

Benavente connected immediately with a stinging body kick followed by a 1-2 combo before securing a takedown. Dela Cruz attempted to get back to his feet, but it was short-lived as Benavente moved into mount and landed lightning quick 1-2 combos that forced the referee to stop the fight. While it wasn’t another six-second knockout, Benavente still secured the TKO just 34 seconds into the bout.

Before the main-event, another anticipated matchup delivered an exciting fight. Last year’s main event winner, Keith “Khaos” Sablan delivered a TKO to CNMI’s Jadrien “Sniper” Camacho just 38 seconds into Round 1 of the semi-main event, handing another win to Guam’s delegation.

The bloodiest brawl took place just before the semi-main event, as Guam’s Alvin “Sweeps” Ok’s left eyebrow gushed blood that ran down his face and soaked his chest. It was an all-out war between him and CNMI’s Austin Arriola, with Arriola seeming to have the upper hand after landing hard strikes to Ok’s face. But Ok turned things around with a flurry of shots after pinning Arriola to the cage, which forced the referee to stop the fight at 1:48 of Round 1.

The other preliminary rounds also showcased gritty, nonstop action, with eight more fights won either by TKO or submission, while the rest ended in draws.

Guam’s Artaeus “Art of War” Aquinde submitted CNMI’s “Drizzy” Dre Aldan with a triangle-to-armbar at 2:01 of Round 1; CNMI’s Salvatore “The Tiger” Gotti electrified the crowd with a vicious first-round knockout of Fern “Da Konvict” Quitano at 2:16 after countering a body kick with a fight-ending hook.

A stunning come-from-behind win came by way of John Bokuku after he defeated Boom Taitano via TKO at 1:17 of Round 2. Beforehand, Keith “Rowdy Rebel” Aldan submitted Manuelito “MJ”Erediano in just 36 seconds of Round 1, and C.J. “The Rookie” Sablan and Mathew Salas battled to a draw in the fiery MMA opener.

In the kickboxing action, Quintin “Baby Rampage” Duenas stopped Derek San Nicolas via TKO at 1:00 of Round 2 and Adrian Lorenzo earned a TKO over Renz “Da Intense” Reyes at 1:20 of Round 2, while bouts between Ibraham “Jie” Njie and Javen Montenegro, Jonny “Bonez” Lee and Jimmy “Crazy Ray” Polk, and Justin De Leon and Jommy “Hot Tamale” Tubale all ended in draws.

The night opened with boxing contests that set the tone for the rest of the night, but saw both Glaine Cepeda vs. Kody “Cage” Palacios and Ernesto Licop vs. Enoch Pamintuan end in draws.

Young badminton star Lina Tsukagoshi dominates U19, open champs

Junior national team player and rising badminton star Lina Tsukagoshi put on a dominant performance in both the IT&E NMI U19 National Championships 2025 and the Shirley’s Coffee Shop NMBA Open Championships 2025 held at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

On the final day of the U19 tournament last Thursday, Dec. 11, the 15-year-old collected wins in every event she entered—singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

In the U19 women’s singles division, Tsukagoshi competed in a five-player bracket and quickly set the tone in the final against Amy Park. She dominated the opening set by scoring nine consecutive points on her way to a 21-6 win, then followed with a 21-8 victory in the second set to secure her first gold medal of the tournament.

Tsukagoshi added her second U19 gold in the women’s doubles alongside partner and fellow junior national teammate Shaina Malonzo. The duo showed strong chemistry and sharp court coverage, defeating Shemaria Hecaro and Yuxi Zhang in straight sets, 21-9, 21-4.

Her third U19 title came in mixed doubles, where she teamed up with Nolan Nate. They defeated Jude Mallari and Genelyn Lansangan, 21-16, 21-19, holding off a late comeback attempt in the second set to close out the match.

In the open tournament from Dec. Dec. 12-14, Tsukagoshi did it again by winning the open singles and women’s doubles events. She defeated Lansangan in straight sets, 21-9, 21-20, to claim the women’s singles open title.

Then, despite being singles rivals, Tsukagoshi and Lansangan paired seamlessly in the women’s doubles open. The pair captured the championship by defeating sisters Nicole and Monique Mascarinas in straight sets, 21-14, 21-9.

By the end of both tournaments, Tsukagoshi had solidified herself as a force to be reckoned with in the local badminton scene.

70 years strong: Emma swims from Mañagaha to Micro Beach

Not everyone can swim—let alone swim for hours in rough water—but 500 Sails’ co-founder Emma Perez thrives in it. And what better way to celebrate her 70 years around the sun than to swim from Mañagaha to Micro Beach on Tuesday morning?

She didn’t do it alone. Her husband Pete guided her, along with her brothers Fred and Rob, while fellow swimmers celebrated Emma’s birthday by braving the rough currents—Boboy Aguilar, Garry DeGuzman, Kris Romero, Natalia Gvan, John Moreno, Andrew Roberto, and Yulia Aleksenko.

Battling a small craft advisory, strong riptides, and even jellyfish stings—the first of her life—Emma spent almost three grueling hours swimming from Mañagaha to Micro Beach. She called it one of the toughest swims of her life, despite having many challenging swims under her belt over the years. What made it even more extraordinary was that a 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Marianas while she was in the water. Fortunately, there was no tsunami threat, and her entourage stayed on shore to wait for her to finish.

In a post-swim interview, Emma said she must have been stuck swimming in the same spot for about half an hour. In the water, she thought about life and its challenges—how sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes it’s hard.

“I was swimming for a while and I looked up and there was a swimmer next to me and I thought, ‘oh, misery loves company.’ The last third was very, very, very hard, but we did it. There were nine swimmers and four kayakers and lots and lots of love, and it was beautiful,” she said. “I could do without the jellyfish sting—first one in my life—but I just kept going.”

By celebrating her birthday this way, Emma said, “I hope that I encourage other people getting older that you just don’t know what your limits are. Anyway, it was really fun. I got my two brothers here from the States who were part of it too, so that was really great.” She added that the swimmers who joined her were part of her swimming journey—some beginners at one point who are now marathon swimmers—so “there was a lot of love in the water today.”