Brien Ing | SL

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One year ago Roosevelt took the prep judo world by storm, making an unlikely run to its first girls' state crown.

It won't have the element of surprise on its side this year.

The Rough Riders will try to defend their title Saturday at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center on campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Roosevelt rode three individual state champions to last year's state title. Two of them — sophomores Menjam Tamang and Macy Higa — are back. Tamang won at 98 pounds last year and is the top seed in the 103-pound division this week. Higa, who claimed the 109-pound crown in 2015, is seeded first at 115.

Rough Riders' coach Ryan Shimokawa said the duo are mature beyond their years between the ears, but also very seasoned on the mat despite their youth.

"Even in pressure situations it seems like they handle it very well," Shimokawa said. "They're always very calm and collected. I think they've kind of used to being in those kinds of situations and they've thrived in it."

Tamang and Higa are two of Roosevelt's 10 entrants in the tournament. The Rough Riders are represented in nine of the 10 weight classes.

Pearl City — which the Rough Riders defeated in the title match of the Oahu Interscholastic Association team championships three weeks ago — and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Punahou also have 10 judoka in the tournament.

The Chargers have three league champions and seeded players in Mikayla Abe (109 pounds) and sisters Jackie (172) and Jenine Fuamatu (220). Each are No. 2 seeds in their respective divisions.

The Buffanblu also have three league titlists in Jenna Enoka (98 pounds), Bailey Hoshino (103) and Taryn Ichimura (122). Enoka is seeded first, Hoshino fourth and Ichimura third.

Also expected to be in the mix for the team title are Moanalua and Kamehameha. Na Menehune have two seeded judoka amongst eight entrants — led by the top seed at 122 pounds, Sienna Ho — while the Warriors boast three No. 1 seeds in Hilinai Meyer (109 pounds), Teshya Alo (139) and Jaclyn Fontanilla (154) amongst their seven qualifiers.

Alo won at 129 pounds as a freshman three years ago and Fontanilla won as both a freshman and sophomore at 154.

"I think it's going to be a close race between Moanalua, Pearl City, Punahou and Roosevelt," Shimokawa said. "I think Moanalua and Pearl City are the favorites, but maybe we can sneak in there again. We had a good week at OIAs so if we can get some momentum going maybe we can get lucky."

Pearl City coach Robin Puahala, who has led the Chargers to five state titles during his tenure — including three straight from 2012 to 2014 — isn't quite as optimistic about his team's chances as Shimokawa is.

"I think Roosevelt, Moanalua and Punahou have the edge over us," Puahala said. "We're on the outside looking in. In order for us to get a good shot, we need our heavyweights to carry us again, like they've been doing all year."

Meanwhile, the boys' team race might not have the same type of drama.

Two-time defending champion Kapolei figures to be a heavy favorite with a slew of returning talent.

Three of the Hurricanes' four individual winners from a season ago are back. Senior Kaulana Narcisco, who won at 132 pounds in 2015, is the No. 1 seed at 178 this week. Two other defending champions — twin brothers, juniors Jayson and Andre Pagurayan — are unseeded at 121 and 114 pounds, respectively, after being upset in last week's league championships.

That trio, along with seniors Anthony Brett, the fourth seed at 132 pounds, and Rodman Salangdron, the top seed at 161, have been a special group over the years for Kapolei.

"Those five are my anchor," Hurricanes coach Marc Narciso said. "I've had those five from baby time. Those are my club players. They're very close and over this past week they've worked really hard. They've gone above and beyond and I know, just looking at them, that they're very ready. You can just see the fire fueling up in their eyes."

Kapolei has 11 judoka in nine weight classes, including double entrants at 220 and 285 pounds.

The only other school with as many qualifiers is ILH champion Iolani, which has five league champions. Two of them — 121-pounder Colby Watase and heavyweight Dane Yamashiro — are seeded first in their respective divisions.

"I think there's a nervous optimism right now," Raiders coach Dan Nishita said. "They're happy about winning the ILH championship but they understand that the state tournament is a whole different ball game. There's a lot of mystery involved being that a lot of times we don't get to compete against the OIA and the Maui and Big Island competitors as well."

Iolani has won the last three ILH championships and is coming off a best-ever third-place finish at last year's state tournament.

"I think each year we're gaining more and more confidence because we see progress. Winning the ILH the past few years has given us some added confidence going into this year, but we understand that we have a big task ahead of us being that Kapolei is the frontrunner. They're not unbeatable, but they are the prohibitive favorite, I would think."

Matches begin at 10:30 a.m. The finals round is set for approximately 4 p.m.