Hilo High’s Lilliane Toledo tossed around her opponent in Saturday’s championship match, got an emotional hug from her coach, celebrated her team’s historic finish and climbed to the top of the podium with a horned Vikings helmet on.
Then came one of her favorites moments of the day.
When she got back to the hotel in Honolulu, the first thing she did was call her sister, Leona Toledo, to tell her she had an HHSAA gold medal of her own.
It just didn’t come on the mat Lilliane Toledo had once expected.
Toledo spent all of her senior wrestling season focused solely on winning state gold. She settled for bronze, but nine weeks later she returned to Oahu and became an unsuspecting judo champ in the 220-pound division, highlighting a second-place finish for the Vikings and strong showing for BIIF girls overall.
“Wrestling was a big motivation, and I was the top seed again (in judo),” Toledo said. “I just kept in mind my wrestling (finish) at states, like, “Try not to lose this one.”’
Toledo didn’t come close, winning all three of her matches by ippon. If there were nerves, she said, they came in her opening match. At the state meet in March, Toledo stumbled in her opening match and had to wrestle her way back to third. With that in mind, Toledo made quick work of Waipahu’s Janelle Mattos, throwing her 45 seconds into Saturday’s opener.
“My expectations weren’t as high (as for wrestling), honestly, because I didn’t know anything about judo,” Toledo said. “I didn’t think I would make it this far.”
Hilo coach Kerwyn Tokeshi said she breezed through her matches, winning the final decisively. She threw Moanalua’s Jasmine Adiniwin at 2:23 for the title.
“It was just excitement,” she said. “I think the main emotion that was running through my mind was surprise and shock.”
Leona Toledo won a state wrestling gold at 225 as a Hilo senior in 2020, and then she got a lift from her coach, Ryan Taniguchi, as they celebrated.
On Saturday, Tokeshi and Lilliane Toledo opted for “tight hugs,” she said.
“He tried to (to lift me), but my sensei is a little bit old,” Toledo said. “I wanted to bring it home for the team and mainly my sensei.”
Junior Irie Sakai reached the 139 final and took silver as seven Vikings posted top-six finishes in 10 weight classes.
Moanalua dominated the standings and swept the team titles, but Hilo’s runner-up finish is the best for a BIIF team girls team dating to HHSAA records that run back to 2007. The tournament was first held in 2004. Waiakea boys posted a second-place finish in 2014.
“I knew from the start they were going to be special,” Tokeshi said. “Holding that koa trophy, that’s the topping on the cake.”
Sakai, the third seed, claimed her first three matches by ippon, including a semifinal match that lasted just 5 seconds. In the final, Moanalua’s Jessica Dixon, the top seed, threw her at 2:15.
“She had a tough opponent,” Tokeshi said. “She had an opponent that was experienced in judo, too.”
Also winning silver from the BIIF was Waiakea junior Elena Shibuya, the second seed in the 109 class. Shibuya won her first two matches by ippon, and her semifinal came down to an official’s decision. In the final, fourth-seeded Kayla Shota of Moanalua, who had taken down the top seed in just 8 seconds, won by ippon at 3:52.
The BIIF had three placers in the division. In the third-place match, Keaau High’s Arionna Beatty beat Hilo High’s Paige Taasan by wazari for bronze.
“Elena did awesome and really pushed herself throughout the season,” Waiakea coach Jason Tanaka said. “Super proud of her as well for her leadership, friendship and role model for our team. We also still got her for another year, so we are hopeful that she will improve even more in the upcoming year.”
Tokeshi could say the same about Hilo’s Malia Kukahiwa, who claimed bronze at 154. Kukahiwa was a silver medalist in state wrestling, and Tokeshi wouldn’t be surprised if she reached the final in both sports next season.
While Toledo was ruling the 220 division, Konawaena’s Sanoe Kihe took the long route to bronze. After a bye, Kihe lost her quarterfinal match, but the senior reeled off four consolation wins via ippon.
Hilo High’s Taylen Babas-Masuno (98) and Waiakea’s Isabella Mow (103) and Lia Ballo (122) competed for bronze and took home fourth-place finishes, and Hilo’s Tammi Le (129) and Kiana Kaneshiro (172) each were sixth.
“The BIIF girls, they made a statement on Oahu,” Tokeshi said.
While the league has produced a state girls champ at the past five meets, the BIIF gold drought for the boys extends to 2014, when Waiakea’s Alan Ikehara (161) and Keaau’s Zephania Pavao placed first.
On Saturday, Waiakea’s Matthew Okuda (161) won two matches to reach the semifinals and wound up fourth.
Waiakea’s Noah Vento (114) was fifth, Keaau’s Hunter Leu beat Hilo’s Dayson Castillo in the fifth-place match at 132, and Waiakea’s Jordan Nakamoto (121) was sixth.
BIIF champion was 12th in he team race.