Unbeaten BIIF champion Hawaii Prep was awarded the third seed behind Damien and Farrington in the HHSAA Division II boys basketball tournament.
Ka Makani (14-0) will face ILH runner-up University (10-4) at 5 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals at Saint Francis High School in Honolulu.
ILH champion Damien (12-0) is the top seed and starts its bid for a first state title against BIIF runner-up Kohala (11-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kalani. The winner gets either MIL champion Seabury Hall or Kaiser.
OIA champion Farrington (10-3) tops the other side of the bracket with a game against Kauai at 7 p.m.
There is guaranteed to be a new champion with St. Francis not making the field.
The semifinals are Friday at Kalani with the championship scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Division I tournament starts Monday with four first-round games, including a 3:30 p.m. contest between BIIF runner-up Hilo (8-6) and Iolani (9-7), the ILH runner-up, at the Vikings’ gym.
Tough
Konawaena’s Kapoina Bailey will face a tough task as she seeks to defend her title at the HHSAA wrestling championships.
Leilehua’s Kelani Corbett will try to become the fifth girl in state history to complete a slam this year and is seeded first at 168 pounds after winning her previous titles at 155.
Bailey is the second seed as she seeks a second straight 168 title, while the BIIF’s other defending state champion, Kealakehe senior Roxie Umu, was the only Big Island wrestler to earn a top seed.
The tournament is Wednesday and Thursday at Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
A majority of BIIF champions were seeded fourth or lower, though Umu and Bailey and were far from the only exceptions.
Kealakehe’s Setu Vole is the second-seeded boys heavyweight, and Hilo’s Leona Toledo is No. 2 in the girls 225 division.
The BIIF boys wrestlers seeded third were: Waiakea’s Brayden Spain (113), Caleb Shimaoka (126), Waylon Spain (132) and Dean Miura (170), Keaau’s Emilio Acia (160) and Kealakehe’s Malosi Abraham (220), a BIIF champ at three different weight classes.
On the girls side, Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Kiki Motta (112) and Kealakehe’s Pualani Louis (117) were seeded third.
In addition to Umu, Kealakehe’s Kobby Faeldonea also is a four-time BIIF champion.
Faeldonea was seeded fourth at 120, a division in which Elijah Asuncion of Moanalua is looking for a repeat title.
Corbett will look to join select company: Caylene Valdez of Moanalua (2003), Kamehameha’s Randolyn Nohara (2007) Teshya Alo of Kamehameha (2016) and Lalelei Mataafa of Lahainaluna (2016) also have captured four state girls titles.
Ashley Gooman (122) of Kamehameha-Kapalama will go for her third state title after losing in the final last year, and Nanea Estrella of Lahainaluna is looking for her third title as a junior.
On the boys side, Kamehameha-Kapalama’s Kysen Terukina looks to get his third title as a junior, this time at 126 pounds.
One unique change in the tournaments this year is the inclusion of “fishtails,” where preliminary rounds take on an added urgency for lower-seeded wrestlers. Instead of going to consolation rounds after a loss, those athletes are out of the tournament. Wrestlers were previously guaranteed two matches.
ILH boys were rewarded with five top seeds, with the MIL and OIA each getting four. The MIL had the most top seeds on the girls side with six, followed by the OIA (4), ILH (3) and BIIF (1).
