honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 13, 2007

Ader wins OIA judo crown

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

In a highly anticipated matchup between two of the top female high school judo practitioners in the state, Farrington junior Tani Ader defeated McKinley senior Lianne Tomishima in overtime to win the girl's 122-pound division at the O'ahu Interscholastic Association judo championships yesterday at Leilehua High School.

Ader was the state champion in the 114- and 115-pound division in her freshman and sophomore years, respectively, before moving up in weight. Tomishima is a three-time state champion at 122 pounds, and had won the three previous OIA titles.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match," said Ader, who narrowly defeated Tomishima in a preseason match. "I felt that if I kept attacking, I'd have a better chance of winning. I have a lot of respect for her."

The match was decided on penalties with Ader being called for two false attacks and Tomishima tagged with two non-combative calls in regulation.

Ader won the match 40 seconds into overtime when Tomishima was again charged with a non-combative penalty.

"It was kind of disappointing because I would have liked to have won with a throw, but I'm still happy that I won," Ader said.

Ader said she will focus on setting up and executing her signature seionage (one-arm shoulder throw) move before the state championships next Saturday. Both of her false attack calls yesterday came as she attempted the move.

In the boy's 121 weight division, OIA East champion Derron Maki of Moanalua defeated OIA West champion Shaun Miyashiro of 'Aiea.

Maki, a junior, is seeking to reclaim the state championship in the 121 weight class that he held as a freshman. He finished second last year.

"I definitely feel more prepared this year," Maki said. He credited the addition of his brother Brandon Maki to the coaching staff with elevating his team's performance this year.

In the boy's 161 division, Pearl City's Nick Pait defeated Richard Torres of Kahuku with a throw in the last 50 seconds of regulation.

"I'm very pleased because he's a great opponent," Pait said. "I just have to keep training hard to prepare for states."

Torres, a senior, said he had difficulty matching Pait's strength and tried to compensate with his speed.

"I just didn't have it," said Torres, whose path to the final match included a grueling contest against Moanalua's Julian Garay that went the full five minutes.

Still, Torres has much with which to console himself. He was a member of this season's state champion Kahuku football team and also won a state championship wrestling title in the boys 145 division. Next year, Torres will join the University of Hawai'i football team as a walk-on defensive back.

In the boy's 198 class, Christian Pavo of Pearl City wasted no time dispatching Clarence Lloren of McKinley. Pavo, a junior, pinned the backpedaling Lloren to end the match in just 33 seconds.

"I could tell he wanted to counter," Pavo said. "He was leaning back and he countered my first move, so I thought I could go low and pick him up."

Pavo said he didn't set out to end the match quickly, but it worked to his advantage.

"I don't like to show too many of my moves because there are people here scouting," he said.

The victory gave Pavo his third OIA championship. He'll try to match that with his third state championship next week.

But first he has some healing to do. Already bothered by sprained fingers on his right hand, Pavo also sprained his right big toe during one of yesterday's preliminary matches.

Moanalua's Justin Osumi made quite an impact with the crowd in winning the boy's 132 division yesterday. But not as big as an impact as his opponent Chayne Chang of Farrington made on the mat.

Less than 30 seconds into the bout, Osumi picked up Chang, powered through Chang's leg-hook defense and slammed him down, WWE style.

"At first, I just wanted to guard against (Chang's throw attempt), but then I saw he was off the ground, so ...," Osumi said.

Osumi won last year's state championship in the boys 108 weight division.

Advertiser staff writer Kalani Takase contributed to this report.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.