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Five questions entering Saturday's judo state tournament


On the eve of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Judo State Championships, several questions loom large going into the one-day tournament. The answers will play out Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. Preliminary-round matches begin at 10:30 a.m. The finals are expected to start at approximately 4 p.m.

1) Can anyone keep Josh Terao from winning his fourth individual title?
I posed this same question prior to the most recent wrestling state tournament. At that time I said no, and I'm going to stick to that here. Coaches have said the same about Terao, the Mid-Pacific senior who is seeking to become the first four-time individual state champion in both wrestling and judo.

"As far as a judoka, Josh Terao is on a different level," Kapolei coach Marc Narciso said. "I know what he's capable of. Of course, like the say, anything can happen and anybody can lose, but he's got to be a heavy favorite."

Moanalua's Chevy Tabiolo-Felicilda, the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 3 seed, poses the biggest threat to Terao. Other seeded judoka are Waiakea's Dayton Towata, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation titlist and second seed, and fourth-seeded Aukai Joy, the Maui Interscholastic League winner out of King Kekaulike.

"Obviously he's an experienced, solid player and he carries a psychological advantage over pretty much everyone in state," Punahou coach Greg Chow said. "I would say it's a pretty sure thing for his fourth title."

Terao breezed through the 130-pound bracket at February's wrestling state tournament, but one mis-step, one error could end a judo match in a matter of seconds and Terao's hopes of going 8 for 8 would be dashed.

One thing is certain, he will be prepared as best as possible.

"I remember being in the (Stan Sheriff Center) the day before the state tournament last year and Moanalua's team was there and maybe a few other teams practicing," Iolani coach Dan Nishita recalled. "Then I saw Josh in one corner of the mat, all by himself, visualizing and preparing himself mentally for the following day. He has all the physical tools, but it's his mental game that gives him that extra edge."

2) Will the Kapolei boys finally win their first team championship?
For years the Hurricanes have been chipping away and closing the gap with the likes of perennial judo powers Pearl City, Punahou and Moanalua. Saturday could very well end up being a symbolic changing of the guard atop the prep judo hierarchy.

Kapolei has the most talent on any team, by far. Coach Marc Narcisco describes his squad as young, but experienced. Many of them have been members of Kapolei Judo Club — which conveniently enough, is located on-campus — since its inception in the early 2000's.

"I know they have a lot of club players and that's definitely an advantage for them," Nishita said. "They also play in the OIA, which is a deeper league and tougher week-in and week-out than the ILH, where we have a little easier road, I think."

If the Hurricanes are to bring home their first state title Saturday, it won't come served on a silver platter. A re-seeding of the state brackets Tuesday morning proved unkind to Kapolei, which will have several pivotal matchups at key weights in the quarterfinal round. Despite the rough draw, the Hurricanes aren't dwelling on it for very long.

"It's the state tournament and to me, if I'm trying to achieve a goal, I'd rather play the best and beat the best so it's earned," Narcisco said. "If you put your best foot forward, even if it comes out in the quarterfinals, then that should write the story and that way you earn the state title. The boys are comfortable with it, we have no quells with it."

Narciso said he had three goals for his boys coming into the season.

"The first goal was to win the Mililani Invitational, the second goal was to win the OIA title and finally to win the state title," said Narcisco, whose team captured both the Mililani Invitational and OIA team championships already this season. "The state title would be the icing on the cake."

3) Will the Pearl City girls make it a three-peat?
The Chargers have been the class of prep girls judo in the past decade with four state championships — the most of any single school. They won their second consecutive crown in 2013 in unlikely fashion: without a single individual champion.

Quantity has always been a strength for Pearl City, which is one of few teams statewide that can fill all 10 weight classes on a consistent basis. This year is no exception as it has a tournament-best 14 entrants in all 10 divisions (there are two entrants each in the 139-, 154-, 172- and 220-pound weight classes.

Three judoka won league championships two weeks ago and are seeded among the top four in their respective brackets this weekend: 109-pounder Chastyne Dolor, 129-pounder Netanya Kang and 154-pounder Megan Ramos.

Dolor, a freshman, defeated reigning state champion Kaylin Castro, of Mililani, in the finals of both the Western Division and OIA championships. The state final figures to come down to those two as well and a win by Dolor could provide the spark Pearl City needs to make a run for three.

4) Can the ILH take back-to-back boys team titles?
The Kamehameha boys broke through to topple three-time state champion Moanalua and win its first team title in the 11-year history of the state tournament last year.

However, the Warriors graduated a slew of talent to graduation and ended up finishing third in the ILH this season. If another team from the private-school league is to win this year, it'll be either Iolani or Punahou.

The Raiders won their first ILH crown this season and will likely have at least one individual winner Saturday in 114-pounder Jordan Ng, who won the last two years at 108. Ng is seeded second this week behind Campbell's Micah Platt.

"I think we're ready," Nishita said. "They're prepared. We tried to peak them for the right time and they're at the point now where they're just ready to go. They're tired of practicing and ready to compete. Winning the ILH championship for the first time was a big boost to our confidence, but we understand that there's lots of work to do and that we're still looking up at a lot of teams."

Aside from Kamehameha's win last year, the Buffanblu are the only other non-OIA school to capture the state crown, the last time coming in 2009.

Like the Raiders, the Buffanblu fill nine weight classes and have three seeded judoka, including 108-pound top-seed Cameron Kato.

"Punahou might be a dark horse if they can get their guys into the finals," Moanalua coach Brandon Maki said.

5) Will Moanalua reclaim its spot atop prep boys judo?
After winning three straight state titles from 2010 to 2012, Na Menehune find themselves in an unfamiliar spot: underdog.

That's just fine with Maki, whose team finished tied with Kapolei for second last year — 11 points behind Kamehameha.

"Recently we've been going into the state tournament as a favorite, but I think we're more dangerous when we have nothing to lose," Maki said. "We're playing for respect, basically, so I think that's what is driving this team more than anything."

Maki said his team has come a long way from a 90-10 loss to Kapolei in the championship match of the Mililani Invitational back in early March.

"They embarrassed us in the preseason and I think that ignited our improvement," said Maki, whose team was also hit hard by graduation last year, but still managed to win the OIA Red East regular-season title this season. "To be honest, we're not supposed to be where we are, we're not supposed to be challenging for a state title this year, yet we're in the race and that's a testament to what the kids are doing and how much work they've put in it."

Kapolei and Moanalua faced off in the title match of the OIA Team Championships last week — which the Hurricanes won, 60-40 — but Maki is hoping his team closes the gap Saturday.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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