Boys finalists line up prior to the start of the final matches at the 2013 Mililani Judo Invitational. Sean Nakamura | SL

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The Seventh Annual Mililani Judo Invitational will kick off the prep judo season this Saturday with some of the state's top teams in the field.

Participating in this year's event are Kamehameha and Saint Louis from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, along with Campbell, Leilehua, Moanalua, Pearl City, Roosevelt and host Mililani from the Oahu Interscholastic Association.

The dual-meet style tournament will provide an early look at some of the perennial powers in prep judo.

Moanalua, which is the only school aside from Mililani to have participated in all six previous editions of the invitational, won three consecutive boys' team state titles from 2010 to 2012 and is expected to contend with defending state champion Kapolei this year.

"Usually the top teams in the state are at this tournament, so we get to see players from the (ILH), because we normally don't see them until the state tournament," Na Menehune coach Brandon Maki said. "Because the judo season is so compressed, we don't have enough mat time during the season, so in order to get that mat time we always go to the Mililani Invitational."

Moanalua has won the preseason tournament a record four times.

While Maki's teams have enjoyed a lot of success, the same can't be said for Saint Louis, which will be making its Mililani Invitational debut under first-year coach Michael Tanimoto.

The Crusaders have struggled with dwindling numbers in a competitive ILH over the years, but Tanimoto is hoping to inject some enthusiasm back into the program.

"We only had five guys on the team last year, so we're coming with a bunch of green guys with the opportunity to play more seasoned judoka and see where we stand and where we can improve," Tanimoto said. "I want to know now where we stand and these kids are going to face some really, really good competition, so it'll give them a wake-up call of what they have to do to get where they want to be."

Tanimoto also said the tournament presents a sneak peek at what the OIA has to offer this season.

"Based on the teams that are entering this tournament, it's a good indicator of who will be the top OIA teams," Tanimoto said. "Moanalua has three state championships, Mililani is always in the hunt, Kamehameha is always bringing a strong team, so I think it's a great indicator of what the state placings might be come May."

Three-time defending state champion Pearl City highlights the girls' competition.

The Chargers have won the invitational title four times, including the last three. They return a plethora of talent, including eight state place-finishers from last year's team that set a state-tournament record in team points.

There are 10 weight classes, ranging from 108 pounds to 285 for the boys and 98 to 220 for the girls. A two-pound weight allowance will be used in the tournament.

The Mililani Invitational is the lone preseason tournament featuring teams from multiple leagues and comes one week before most of the state's four judo-playing leagues get underway.

"It's a great warm-up starting off the season," Trojans' coach Alex Kikuyama said. "We get to play some of our newer players and overall it's just a good experience to get the kids extra mat time and get them ready for the dual meets and the regular season."

Matches are expected to being at 10:30 a.m. with the finals scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Mililani High School gymnasium.

ScoringLive will carry a live stream of both the girls' and boys' championship matches.