Campbell's Tristan Ludiazo wrestles Mililani's Dayton Furuta in the 220 pound final in 2014. Ludiazo will wrestle as the top seed in the 285 pound class this year. Sean Nakamura | SL

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With what many coaches consider to be a wide-open field for the boys' team title at this weekend's Chevron Hawaii/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys Wrestling State Championships, the only certainty is that whichever school ends up on top will have earned it.

There are no shortage of contenders in the mix this year, including a number of programs seeking their first team state crown. In a survey of a handful of coaches, they named no less than eight teams that could make a run for the koa trophy.

Campbell, Lahainaluna and Punahou are thought by most coaches as the front runners, but many also expect Moanalua, Kapolei and Kamehameha to make some noise over the two-day tournament at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. Others say not to count out defending titlist Pearl City.

"I think this year it's going to be really exciting," Lahainaluna coach Todd Hayase said. "It's definitely spread out more evenly, so there's not one completely dominant team who anyone can say is No. 1."

The Sabers, Buffanblu, Warriors, along with Iolani, each qualified a tournament-best 12 wrestlers in the 14 weight classes. Na Menehune got 11 wrestlers in, while the Lunas and Hurricanes put 10 wrestlers in apiece.

"Lahainaluna and Campbell have a little bit of a nod, but there isn't an overall dominant team in the state that has led from post to post, so it's going to be interesting and it's going to be fun, as it should be," Punahou coach Yoshi Honda said.

Punahou captured the Interscholastic League of Honolulu title this year and is led by three league champions in Cameron Kato (113 pounds), Joshua Rosen (132) and Joshua Crimmins (138). Kato, who won at 106 last year, and Crimmins are the top seeds in their respective brackets, while Rosen is a No. 2 seed.

Crimmins caught a tough break when he drew Mililani's Zack Diamond, a two-time state runner-up, in the a first-round bout.

"That's going to be huge for us to keep Josh on the front side and to score points," Honda said. "Obviously we need Cameron Kato to produce like he did for us last year and we need a big tournament out of Josh Rosen and (152-pounder) Connor Barfield, who had a disappointing run after losing in the first round at the ILH championships after dominating the weight class all year."

Campbell won its third consecutive Oahu Interscholastic Association championship last weekend and has three No. 1 seeds amongst its four league champs in Joshua Roy Gallarde (132 pounds), James Sullivan (220) and Tristan Ludiazo (285). Triston Santos is the No. 2 seed at 113 pounds. Ludiazo moved up a weight class after winning the 220-pound title as a junior last year.

"We've been having a good week of practice so far and we're feeling pretty good about where we are and how we'll fare," Sabers' first-year coach Lucas Misaki said. "I told the kids that there's not a whole lot of people who think we can do it, because everyone knows that Lahainaluna is the favorite, so we're going into this weekend still with the mentality of the underdogs. We want to be the hunters, not the hunted."

All 10 of Lahainaluna's wrestlers won their respective weight classes at the Maui Interscholastic League championships, but just one of them — 170-pounder Thomas Rosen St. John — drew a No. 1 seed for states.

"Obviously, you have to think that Lahainaluna and Campbell are going to be the front runners, that's for sure, but you can never count out Kamehameha with the athletes that they have and Pearl City has a few hitters as well," Honda said. "I think Punahou will be competitive, but it's just going to come down to who wrestles their best."

Kamehameha enters the tournament with five league champions, including a trio of No. 1 seeds in Blaysen Terukina (120 pounds), Joseph Hoshino (182) and Boman Tokioka (220), who won at 195 last season.

Moanalua is without a single seeded wrestler, but coach Darren Reyes likes his team's chances going in.

"Right now we've got 11 in the tournament and we're looking at 10 possible placers," Reyes said. "If we can get 10 into the finals and place in the top six, then we'll be all right. Anything could happen. If this kid knocks off that kid, it could be the turning point in the tournament."

Kapolei has three seeded wrestlers, including top seeds Jayson Pagurayan (106 pounds) and Shandon ilaban Totten (126).

"I always go through the brackets and try to make predictions and when I made the predictions I had Punahou, Campbell, Kapolei and Lahainaluna all within 20 points of each other," Hurricanes' coach Sean Salter said. "It will be close. I don't foresee any team running away with it unless a team just has an amazing showing."

Punahou won a string of six straight boys' team titles from 2007 to 2012 before Kamehameha captured their fifth championship in school history in 2013. Pearl City made a surprising run to its first state crown last year.

The Buffanblu have won eight times, second only to Iolani's 10 state titles. Campbell, Lahainaluna, Kapolei and Moanalua are all seeking its first state crown.

Matches begin at 10 a.m. Friday. Saturday's championship finals are expected to begin around 3:30 p.m.