No limits to ‘Iolani’s KJ Pascua

Standing 5 feet 6, KJ Pascua transcends any limitations that height may bring.

Throughout his career, the ‘Iolani senior has excelled in football, wrestling and judo.

“You can take parts of different sports and elevate your game with it,” Pascua said. “Every day is just a different goal to just keep pushing through and never stop through a challenge. I try to set up something different to help myself improve.”

On the gridiron, the senior rushed for 958 and 16 touchdowns on his way to earning All-ILH first-team honors as a running back this season. In judo, he won two straight ILH titles.

However, wrestling may be his calling card.

He won his first wrestling championship as a 7-year-old at a tournament on Maui. His decorated prep career on the mat includes the individual state championship at 145 pounds in 2015 and runner-up finishes at 138 in 2014 and 152 his junior year.

“KJ is a physical specimen. He’s strong. He’s quick on the mat and he has great reflexes. He has something that you really cannot teach in his finesse,” ‘Iolani wrestling coach Walden Au said. “His technicality is there. He moves around on the mat and adjusts to situations that some wrestlers find uncomfortable.”

Some of those situations have occurred even before it was time to compete.

A wrench was thrown in Pascua’s plans to take the title in February when Leilehua’s Liam Corbett, who was arguably the state’s top male prep wrestler at the time, dropped from 160 to 152 two weeks before the state tournament.

Unfazed by the challenge, Pascua didn’t reclassify and took Corbett the distance, where he was edged 2-1 in an instant classic. Pascua says that the loss didn’t affect his preparation for this season.

“I’m always hungry. Losing wouldn’t change my mentality because no matter what, I’m always trying to come with my hardest,” he said. “I felt like I wanted my junior year one more than my freshman year. … I wanted that one more than anything, but I came out short.”

Like almost all seniors at ‘Iolani, Pascua is planning his next move: college. His options are open for now, although one factor will be the be-all and end-all.

“If I get a scholarship for anything sports related, I’m gone,” he said. “I’m gonna take it.”

He’s in the process of contacting coaches across the nation, but primarily the West Coast. Walking on at Hawaii in hopes of eventually earning a football scholarship also remains an option.

“My biggest hope for KJ is that he finds a program that’s a good fit for him,” Au said. “KJ’s just been a great kid to work with and a great person to have around other kids to set an example of what you can do when you work really hard or put your all into something. As talented as KJ is, I’ll always remember the humble way that he carries himself and his good nature.”

If Pascua earns an athletic scholarship, he wouldn’t be the first in his family to do so. His sisters, Krystal and Kama, played soccer for UH.

“It’s just really family oriented — they push me,” Pascua said. “Any extra training I needed, my parents would give up the time. I wouldn’t be as good as I am now without them. My dad used to tell me it doesn’t matter if I lose. But if I give up or not go hard, that’s when he’ll get mad.”

Pascua’s legacy as a Raider will surely be his grit.

In addition to his battle with Corbett, he carried the load for a football team that went winless in ILH Division I play for consecutive years. Earlier in the year, he won the ILH judo title at 178 despite weighing in at 163 pounds.

“It’s always nonstop. You can’t really take days off,” he said. “You can’t stop grinding because everybody’s good, and hard work beats talent every time when talent slacks. I just have to keep on the grind, to be the best I can be.”

Pascua has lost before, but he’s never backed down.