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Aloha and Welcome to the 50th State Judo Webpage
By 50th SJA staff Myer Alokoa, a 17-year old judoka at Makiki Seidokan Judo Club, will be featured on an episode of the TV show "Sports People Hawaii," which will air Wednesday, Sept. 8 on OC-16. Despite a hearing impairment, Alokoa has prospered on the mat, winning Oahu Interscholastic Association championships as both a freshman and a sophomore. Alokoa attends the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind, but competes at Kalani because HSDB does not field a judo team. The half-hour show, hosted by former University of Hawaii catcher and KHNL news anchor Howard Dashefsky, begins at 7 p.m. This episode will be played more than once. For more showtimes, and past episodes of Sports People Hawaii, check out: Leeward takes home team title at Shobukan tourney
By Kalani Takase With a lineup loaded with heavyweight talent, Leeward Judo Club claimed the five-man team tournament by going 3-0 at the Sunao Migita Memorial Tournament Sunday at Salt Lake District Park. The single-elimination tournament was made up of seven teams and began early in the morning and wrapped up before lunch. Tournament-host Shobukan, along with Salt Lake entered two teams each while Leeward, Hawaii Tenri and Kapolei had one team apiece. “It went very well and I think it’s something that we need to do more often,” 50th State chairman Albert Aoki said. “Overall, I think it was very encouraging.” Leeward’s lineup was made up of, from lightest to heaviest, Brock Bal, Matthew Ogata, Austin Araki, Tyler Lauifi and Neal Takamoto. Bal, a member of Pearl City Hongwanji, was on loan to Leeward for the team tournament. In the quarterfinal round, Leeward beat the Shobukan-B team before advancing to the final by topping the Salt Lake-A team in the semifinals. The teams split the first four matches of the semi and were tied going into the last match. However, Takamoto clinched the win for Leeward with a circle choke on Salt Lake’s Chris Takesue to send his team to the final. “That was a real nail-biter, we had to rely on our heavyweight to pull through for us,” said Ogata, who went 3-0 in his matches for the day. Against the Salt Lake-B team, Bal started things off for Leeward with a win by ippon about two minutes into the match with a right seio-nage against Brady Lafortune. Ogata then followed with an ippon by right sore-tsurikomi goshi to win by ippon against Reid Oshiro. Ogata estimated he had a weight advantage of about “50 pounds” against Oshiro. “We definitely had a huge weight advantage,” said Ogata, who is about 180 pounds. Araki sealed the Leeward win after he pressed Justin Osumi in the third match for ippon. Salt Lake picked up its lone win after Brandon Maki threw Lauifi for ippon with a left seio. Takamoto closed out the match with a win by ippon, using a left osoto-gari to throw Sheldon Konno. “It was probably the most exciting tournament we’ve had in a long time,” said Aoki. “I think it was a good example for the young kids to see the older guys playing. It really shows that judo has no age limit.” Maki and Ogata both agreed the tournament was a success. “It was nice to see some old faces get out on the mat,” Ogata said. Added Maki: “It was only for fun … but I’m definitely out of shape.” The next 50th State Judo Association tournament is on Sept. 12 and will be hosted by Kapolei. Reach Kalani Takase at ktakase@hawaii.edu
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Upcoming Events
Kapolei Family Judo Tournament Salt Lake District Park Gym Click here for information and entry forms... |
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