Kamehameha's Tinei Makaiau and Moanalua's Chaeden Grace Reyes battle it out in the 171 pound bracket. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Brien Ing | SL

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Kamehameha leads both the boys and girls team standings entering Saturday's second and final day of the Chevron/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Championships at Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena.

The Warriors accumulated 82 points to lead the boys' competition by six points over Campbell after Friday's first day of matches. Lahainaluna sits in third with 68 points, Punahou is fourth with 64 and Iolani fifth with 54.

“It's good to be ahead going into the second day, but it's a cautious optimism,” said Kamehameha boys coach Chris West, whose team has seven wrestlers in the semifinal round. “There's a lot of wrestling left.”

A pair of senior No. 1 seeds - 135-pounder Kai Kamaka and 215-pounder Paihi Pestano - are among the semifinalists for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu-titlist Warriors.

Kamaka won by a second-round pin over Kapolei's Aaron Isala in his preliminary-round bout and followed that with an 8-2 decision over King Kekaulike's Lorenzo Angel in the quarterfinal round.

“I felt pretty good coming in at a lower weight (Friday) and I felt pretty good about my performance,” Kamaka said.

Kamaka will face a more-than-familiar foe in younger brother, Tristan, in a semifinal matchup.

“It's pretty nerve-racking - it didn't hit me yet, maybe it'll hit me when I get home ,” Kai Kamaka said of Tristan, a Leilehua junior. “When I wake up though, I'll know that that's the guy I'm going to wrestle. You feel more calm because I've seen him wrestle many times, but at the same time, it's my brother, so it's hard.

Pestano, who is seeking his second consecutive state title, pinned both of his first-day opponents in the first round en route to a semifinal meeting with Campbell's Tristan Ludiazo.

“I felt pretty good today, I think I did all right, my mental focus was there,” said Pestano, who disposed of Pearl City's Kordell Vaa in the preliminary round and Kahuku's Simeon Vierra in the quarterfinal round. “We're in a pretty good place right now as a team, our heads are on right, but we just have to keep winning, keep moving up, stay focused for (Saturday) and keep pushing as a team and hopefully we can do it.”

The Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Sabers have a tournament-best eight semifinalists, while the Maui Interscholastic League-titlist Lunas have four, as do the six-time defending state champion Buffanblu. Kamehameha won its last of four state championships in school history in 2005.

“Campbell's got a lot left, Lahainaluna has a lot left and Punahou is Punahou, so we just have to do our thing tomorrow, show up and wrestle,” West said.

Meanwhile, the Kamehameha girls totaled 76 points to hold the top spot after day one. Pearl City is second with 71 points, Lahainaluna third with 68, Punahou fourth with 54 and Molokai fifth with 44.

“There's a lot of wrestling left (Saturday), but performance-wise, we did compete and we have five in the (semifinals) and five still alive in the (consolation),” said Warriors' coach Pablo Venenciano.

Bree Rapoza, the top seed at 117 pounds, is seeking her third state title. The senior pinned Leilehua's Kayla Lono just 22 seconds into her preliminary-round bout and followed that with a pin of Waianae's Devin Desha Vierra in the third round of a quarterfinal match. Rapoza will meet Pearl City's Joen Tominaga in the semifinal round.

Rapoza's freshman teammate, Teshya Alo - the No. 2 seed at 130 pounds – pinned Farrington's Aira Mae Magpayo in 17 seconds in her preliminary-round match and won by default over Moanalua's Brianne Jhun in the quarterfinal round. Alo will wrestle Mililani's Phairin Hicks in a semifinal match.

“We're looking for consistency from those two, trying to make sure that they can win smart, use their technique and not stay on the bottom and just wanting to be sharp, especially for the next rounds,” Venenciano said of Rapoza and Alo.

Three others - 113-pounder Kylen-Jo Tanaka, 125-pounder Harmony Pacheco and 140-pounder Ilihia Herrod - also reached the semifinal round.

“KJ Tanaka has had a spectacular season, Harmony came back from being (disqualified) at the (ILH championships) and Ilihia was a (backup) all season, but our other senior got hurt,” Venenciano said.

Venenciano expects the team competition to go down to the wire between Kamehameha, Pearl City and Lahainaluna.

“You've got to expect that,” Venenciano said. “I think the thing is to teach our wrestlers, as a coaching staff, to be able to be able to get as much scouting information and not having the girls stress out on the performance and executing their package on the mat. It's going to come down to who's not going to give into the pressure and the stress.”

Kamehameha has never won a girls team wrestling state championship in the 16-year history of the tournament.

Wrestling resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday. The championship finals, which are slated to begin at 4:30 p.m., will be televised live statewide on OC16 and streamed online at www.oc16.tv.

> Tournament semifinal pairings, standings and results