HONOLULU — Several BIIF judokas earned top-six placements at the HHSAA State Championship over the weekend — with two winning first place for their weight classes.
Hilo High School’s Irie Sakai placed first in the girls 139 lbs class, defeating Moanalua High School’s Kalei Yasumura by ippon at a minute and 14 seconds — her third straight ippon in the tournament.
On the boys’ side, Caden Pasa of Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i won the 198 lbs bracket — with an ippon against Roosevelt High’s Matt Yadao at a minute and 50 seconds. Pasa won his first two rounds of the tournament by ippon, then the third by yuko before going to the final round.
Waiakea High School’s Shaniah-Lee Ferreira was runner-up in the girls 103 lbs class. She won her first match by ippon in just six seconds, then her next by ippon in 17 seconds. In the third round, she won by yuko — before falling by ippon to Pearl City High School’s Chloe Obuhanych in the championship round.
Ferreira’s teammate, Elena Shibuya placed third in the girls 109 lbs class. Shibuya won two straight rounds by ippon, including a 29-second ippon in the second round. In the semifinal, she lost by ippon to runner-up Charlotte Campbell — before defeating Kaylee Zeller in the consolation bracket championship.
Hilo’s Kainalu Keopuhiwa was consolation champion for the boys heavyweight (285 lbs) class. After receiving a first-round bye, Keopuhiwa notched an ippon victory — then took an ippon loss to future champion Caleb Lauifi in the semifinal. Keopuhiwa bounced back, winning the consolation championship with a seventh-second ippon over Saint Louis High’s Brian Chouinard.
Two Vikings noted fourth-place finishes — Iverson Babas in the boys 108 lbs class and Ihilani Sakai in the girls 129 lbs class. Their teammate, Alek Caban-Trinidad finished sixth in the boys 198 lbs bracket.
Amy Gushiken placed fifth in the girls 115 lbs class.
For Waiakea’s boys, Kyler Aguait and Noah Bento notched fifth-place finishes — in the 108 lbs and 178 lbs classes, respectively.
Mela Tokumura-Hanato-Well was Konawaena High School’s sole top-six representative, placing fifth in the girls 154 lbs bracket.
Noah Rivera was Kea‘au High School’s sole top-sixer, coming in sixth place in the boys heavyweight class.
As a team, Hilo was the highest-placing BIIF team in the tournament — placing sixth with 23 points for the girls and tenth with 19 points for the boys. Waiakea trailed in seventh place with 21 points in the girls tourney.
KSH came in 12th place for the boys, tied with Mid Pacific Institute with 16 points. Waiakea scored ten points to place 16th among boys teams.
Konawaena and KSH scored five points each to become part of a four-way tie for 16th place for the girls — alongside Baldwin High, KS-Maui and Nanakuli High.
Rivera’s top-six finish earned three points for Kea‘au, placing it at No.21 out of the 38 boys teams.