"One Team" is really comprised of many, cohesive parts.

That's the lesson that was conveyed to Walden Au when he was wrestler at Iolani and it's the same one that he has preached to his team.

Au, a 2003 Iolani alumnus and the current head coach of the Raiders' wrestling team, expressed much of the same during an interview a few days before the state tournament over the weekend:

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"We have hopes and expectations that each of our kids will get to day two and get us some points," Iolani coach Walden Au said. "We would love to get championships from a few individuals, but our message has been that everyone has a part and if we get that team title, it will be a result of not only our individual champions, but everyone fighting and getting points on the board for one another."
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His words proved to be almost prophetic.

On the backs of its two No. 1 seeds — Jake Nakasone at 120 pounds and Dane Yamashiro at 285 — the Raiders showed why they were considered by many to be the odds-on favorite in the team competition. They posted 166 points to win their 13th state crown in school history, finishing nearly 30 points ahead of runner-up Campbell.

While Nakasone and Yamashiro were the lone individual winners, many others had a hand in the win.

The Raiders had eight of their 13 entrants place in the top six of their respective weight classes. KJ Pascua (152 pounds) and Saiaiga Fautanu (182) turned in runner-up finishers and Kaua Nishigaya (106) was third. The trio of Colby Watase (113), James Mizota (126) and Jake Angelo (132) each placed fifth.

It the first time the Raiders won as a team since 2003, when Au was a senior under then coach Yoshi Honda.

Au was quick to credit Honda — who took over the Punahou program a few years ago after some time away from coaching — for having a significant impact on him and much of his coaching staff.

"The staff who are classmates of mine wrestled under Yoshi Honda, we're happily passing this onto the next group and there's no other group I'd rather pass this on to," Au said. "Coach Yosh has been there for me and us since I have wrestled for him and he continues to be a great supporter of us. I hope that the kids under us just get a fraction of that appreciation that I have for coach Yosh and all the coaches who have come before us at Iolani."

Nakasone and Yamashiro have certainly bought in to the "One Team" philosophy that the Raiders have long preached since the days of legendary Father Kenneth Bray himself, as evidenced by their success this year.

Au offered some insight on both individual champs.

Yamahiro defeated Punahou's Kanai Eldredge, 10-4, in a rematch of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu final from a week ago.

"As an underclassman and I would say a little undersized as a heavyweight, he went out there and just wrestled his heart out," Au said. "Kanai Eldredge from Punahou and all the kids he wrestled here are tough, tough wrestlers, so for Dane to have accomplish what he did today and basically walking off the mat and telling us that he did it for the team, that just really warmed our hearts," Au said.

Nakasone handily beat Lahainaluna's Kainalu Estrella, 14-2.

"We've been coaching him since he was a middle schooler and he's sacrificed so much and his family has done so much for our program, so for him to walk away with not only an individual title, but a team title I just can't say much more than that or be happier for him," Au said.

Nakasone said he was most thrilled for Au when the Raiders were announced as team champions Saturday night.

"It's been a while since we were contenders for the state title so it's really amazing to show our coaches that all the work they put in to help us to become better has paid off," Nakasone said.

Despite having more state championships than any other school in the 50-year history of the state tournament, it had been more than a dozen years since Iolani reigned supreme.

"It's good to be part of that legacy; we always want to live up to that," Yamashiro said. "We have the banners in our room every day at practice so we see it every day and it pushes us even harder."