Northeast High School sophomore, Maui Sua receives fifth place medal at MSHSAA State wrestling tournament in Columbia, Mo. | Photo courtesy of NEHS Wrestling Head Coach, Brook Penca.
Northeast High School sophomore, Maui Sua receives fifth place medal at MSHSAA State wrestling tournament in Columbia, Mo. | Photo courtesy of NEHS Wrestling Head Coach, Brook Penca.

Julia Williams

Editor-in-Chief

The Hearnes Center parking lot swarmed with cars and buses the weekend of Feb. 28 through March 2 as high school athletes traveled near and far to Columbia, Mo., to compete in the 2025 Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Wrestling Championship at Mizzou Arena. 

Among high schools whose wrestlers qualified for the State tournament was Northeast High School (NEHS) (415 Van Brunt Blvd), including sophomores Maui Sua and Locardo Mwamba — with a fifth place finish for Sua. 

Sua — a four-sport athlete, who is also a member of the Northeast Football, Men’s Volleyball and Track teams — shared this is his second year on the wrestling mat.

“We have fun, I’m so excited to get fifth,” Sua shared in an interview. “Maybe next year I’ll get third or second.” 

In a program spearheaded by Head Coach and NEHS English Teacher, Brook Penca and Assistant Coach and NEHS Entrepreneurship and Marketing Teacher, Carlos Cubas, the two have led this diverse team of over 20 different nationalities for the past two years. 

While the NEHS has had a wrestling program off and on since the school’s founding in 1914, Penca shared that Northeast wrestlers held a total of 11 individual wins from 2008 to 2023, according to team records. 

However, Penca shared last season, the team won 131 matches and 326 matches in this season alone. 

“This is a big deal for Northeast,” Cubas shared in reference to Sua and Mwamba’s state qualifications. “The only other MHSAA record [Northeast] had previously was track.”

This season’s squad included 28 wrestlers — with 18 boys and 10 girls. 

In addition to the boys section, Cubas shared one NEHS girl wrestler made it all the way to this year’s bubble round, which includes the matches just prior to the State tournament. While boys and girls matches are gender separate, Cubas said all Northeast’s wrestlers practice as a team. 

While Penca and Cubas shared they both were wrestlers themselves, Cubas said that his experience as a coach has been more rewarding than competing on the mat himself. 

“We bond really closely with the athletes and are here to support them,” Cubas said in an interview. “There’s a sense of bondage, it’s what makes me love coaching.” 

While NEHS’s wrestling season officially begins in November, Penca said the team’s pre-season will start about six weeks prior around September or October and then runs all the way to March for teams that make it to State.  

In preparation for the State tournament, Sua shared the team did complete additional training including running school stairs and Peloton workouts. 

“We set goals, the team accomplished every goal we set; Now we have a fifth place medal,” Penca said in an interview. 

For additional information on the NEHS wrestling team or the 2025 MSHSAA State Tournament in Columbia, Mo., visit: https://northeasthsathletics.org/teams/4435109/wrestling/varsity or https://www.mshsaa.org/MySchool/Schedule.aspx?s=143&alg=64.