By all accounts, Joshua Terao has had a legendary career in combat sports. The 2014 Mid-Pacific graduate is the only person in HHSAA history to win four state titles in both judo and wrestling. He also won a Greco-Roman national title as a junior in high school.
Now a senior at American University in Washington, D.C., Terao has enjoyed a storied collegiate wrestling career as well. He holds a career 94-38 record with NCAA tournament appearances in each of the past two seasons.
Terao is 15-4 so far this season, with wins in the 133-pound division at the Bob Quade Cyclone Open on Dec. 2 and the Patriot Open on Dec 9.
While Terao remains determined to earn another spot in this year’s NCAA tournament (March 21-23 in Pittsburgh), he’s not sure when he’ll be wrestling after that. All that matters for now is giving everything he can to the sport that’s given him just as much back.
“Wrestling to my potential and not leaving it on the mat is really important to me. I only have two months of this left, which is mind-blowing since I’ve been in it for years and years,” he said. “So it’s just going out there and competing, having fun. If I put it all out there on the mat, then I can walk out satisfied whether or not I reach my goals. … Just leave it all on the mat.”
Recurring shoulder issues have contributed to Terao’s uncertainty toward his future. He went 15-1 while redshirting his true sophomore year — college wrestlers can compete during redshirt seasons as long as they don’t participate in dual meets — but also tore his labrum. Terao says he’s had three shoulder surgeries during his time at American. He hasn’t closed the door on wrestling internationally, but he wants to give himself time to recover after the season.
“It was a good decision, I think. It allowed me to mature,” Terao said of the redshirt year. “Ultimately I think where I am now as a redshirt senior dealing with injuries and all this, I think redshirting was a great idea for me. If I went straight into another season starting, it would’ve been pretty problematic.”
Terao also put the extra year to use in the classroom. He’s on track to earn a master’s degree in molecular and developmental biology by May. Although he wants to stay involved in the grappling community, he also has aspirations to get involved in the biotechnology and business fields.
The trek from Oahu to D.C. spans nearly 5,000 miles, but Terao’s hardly the first to make the voyage to the East Coast. He draws inspiration from Travis Lee, a Saint Louis product who won national titles with Cornell in 2003 and 2005, becoming the first from Hawaii to do so.
“He’s a pioneer. Two-time NCAA champion, four-time All-American. I don’t think I’ll ever be at the level he was. I aspire to have the mentality that he did — going out there and wrestling to his capabilities,” Terao said. “He means everything to me. He’s been a role model to me since I started in high school, all the way until right now. I have him on my steering wheel, ‘What Would Travis Lee do?’ It really inspires me to be the best that I can.”
Then there’s his brother, David, who also wrestled for American from 2011 to 2016 and was an All-American in the 125 weight class his senior season after placing fourth nationally. Joshua does have two more state wrestling titles than David, but Joshua has a career 1-4 record at the NCAA tournament and has yet to advance as far as David has.
David was one of the main reasons Joshua chose American. During summers in high school, he’d live and train with big brother for a couple of weeks for his tournaments on the mainland. He’s paved his own career at the school even though their careers overlapped. And come March, he hopes to go further than both ever have.
“I wanted to stay up here and accomplish what I can accomplish and move up to my potential. That always kept my mind off of wanting to be home or wanting to reminisce about old times,” Terao said. “Everybody’s injured at this point. I’ve been through three shoulder surgeries already, so it’s been a rough one for me. The experiences for me alone have opened my eyes to how grueling the season is and what you need to do to persevere and last.”
