Chargers Boys And Girls Dominate On The Judo Mat

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Cory Oga gets ready to flip Jason Wong during Pearl City’s judo practice. Photo by Nathalie Walker, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Even during the most competitive girls judo practices at Pearl City High School, a relaxed air prevails in the background.

That was clearly evident to all recently when the Chargers arrived at Stan Sheriff Center on the eve of the 2008 HHSAA State Judo Championships to help set up for the next day’s event.

“There were about four or five other teams that helped, and we were all allowed afterward to practice on the mats as a reward for having helped with the set-up,” Pearl City coach Robin Puahala said. “The other teams were doing sprints and push-ups and things, and we were playing games on the mat.

“There’s a fine line there,” he added. “It has to be fun. The kids can’t perform at the top level if they’re being pressured to win. Our philosophy at Pearl City is that we don’t try to build a winning team, we try to build a fun team that people will want to be on. Winning comes as a bonus.”

All is once again well within the program after the girls team captured the state championship May 10 - the program’s second title in the last four years. The boys team also brought home a state title that same day (sharing it with Punahou), their second in a row and their fifth in the last six years.

At the outset of the 2008 season, however, the girls’ success seemed less assured than that of the boys. Although they featured key seniors in Jessica Domingo and Kasey Fujihara, 18 of the 24 players were either freshmen or sophomores this spring, making Pearl City one of the youngest teams in the OIA. That Puahala’s team will return a total of 22 lettermen next year from this month’s state title team all but assures the Chargers will be the team to beat for the next couple of seasons and beyond.

Pearl City’s judo tradition may best be summed up by the overwhelming support the program receives from its former players, who maintain a relationship with the school. During the recently completed judo season, Puahala acknowledged that 20 different former players helped at some point at practice, in addition to the help of regular assistant coaches Jaycee Corpuz, Jason Plunkett, Jordan Yokoyama and Devin Yoshinaka.

“They’re all Pearl City graduates - we don’t want to give anything away,” Puahala joked, “and we couldn’t do it without them. They’re the unsung heroes of the program.”

Puahala also credits the Chargers’ highly regarded wrestling program as a boost to judo at Pearl City. He played for Pearl City wrestling coach Cedric Yogi while a student at the school.

“Ninety-five percent of our girls also wrestle, so they’re spending a lot of time together,” he said. “We try to get the judo girls out for wrestling, and we’re rewarded by having a lot of them come out. They go hand in hand.”

Pearl City tallied 63 points to beat Punahou (55) in the recent state championships, largely on the strength of second-place finishes from Domingo (115-pound weight class), Fujihara (220) and Mei Ling Keiki (172). Also finishing in the top six in their respectful weight classes were Hazel Asperin (fifth; 98-pound class), Briana Delos Santos (third; 103), Kelly Ancheta (sixth; 109), Lacey Katakura (fifth; 139) and Jamilyn Chur (fifth; 154).

In the boys division, the Chargers, who were coached by Ivan Yoshimura, totaled 74 points en route to tying with Punahou. Christian Pavo (161) took home an unprecedented fourth straight individual title to lead the way, while Aaron Puahala (198) and Tyler Lauifi (275) also won their weight classes. The boys squad also received stellar performances from Andy Toyama, who placed second in the 220-pound weight class and both Chad Singchow (178) and Justin Leong (121), who finished third and fifth, respectively, in their weight classes.