Jerry Campany: Class of 2021 had its share of shining sports stars

While previous senior classes wrapped up their high school careers in the spotlight, the 2021 group toiled away behind a mask.

There was so much to look forward to in the past prep sports season, with football standout Titus Mokiao-Atimalala of Campbell on the verge of breaking every receiving record there is. When we last saw the wunderkind he was striding off the field with his head up after having a 2-point conversion pass broken up by Kahuku’s Tomasi Pasi in a 21-19 loss. That was nearly 550 days ago.

Mokiao-Atimalala, who has since committed to Central Florida, was in line to erase that disappointment with a monster senior year that never arrived. He finished his high school career just 595 yards behind Kanawai Noa of Punahou’s career mark for receiving yards after piling up 1,136 as a junior. Even with the lost season, Mokiao-Atimalala is the top receiver in OIA history with 2,915 yards and nobody is even close to challenging him even if the sport resumes in the fall.

Mokiao-Atimalala wasn’t the only senior to load up on “what-ifs” to talk about in his garage when his playing career is done. Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Chenoa Frederick was on the verge of passing legends Heidi Freise, Prestine Foster and Zhane Santiago as the most decorated female track and field athlete in Hawaii history. She was rewarded with a spot in the Hall of Honor and will be joined by 11 others at the end of the month, but that is little consolation.

Among the senior classes, the leaders of Maryknoll’s boys basketball, ‘Iolani girls basketball, Punahou boys soccer, Kamehameha girls soccer and Moanalua’s judo teams all had a chance at a three-peat stolen from them.

For me, one of the darkest days in prep history came in 2018 when the HHSAA declared the boys soccer state championship a tie between Baldwin and Hawaii Prep due to rain in the forecast and a lack of interest among administrators. Oh, what we wouldn’t give to see a tie soccer match right now.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment came in wrestling, where state champions Kanai Tapia of Kamehameha, Kapolei’s Branden Pagurayan and Boltyn Taam of Moanalua were primed to put on another show worthy of main-event status in any combat sport.

In the last state tournament before the world went dark, Tapia put Pagurayan on his back for a 3-2 win and his first state title while denying the Kapolei strongboy his chance at a slam. There have been many, many great matches at states, but this one was special because it was two of the best in the state going head-to-head. Just three years after legendary ’Iolani coach Carl Schroers implored athletic directors to pass a measure to reduce the number of weight classes to give Hawaii athletes a better chance to test themselves against the best, Taam took matters into his own hands. Rather than cruise unchallenged to his second straight state crown at 160 pounds, he jumped into the pool at 152 to take on Tapia (who was supposed to be at 145) and Pagurayan.

Taam was the unlucky loser of his gambit, Tapia defeating him by two points in the quarterfinals, but all three boys were poised to run it back as seniors and each of them should be given credit for challenging themselves. Taam did get a small measure of revenge last month at the Reno World Championships in Oklahoma. Taam and Tapia met up in the semifinals of that tournament and Na Menehune won 3-2, proving how close in skills the three boys are. It is just a shame that they had to go to Oklahoma to get it done.

While we didn’t get to see the show we wanted this year, challenging each other paid off with college opportunities they might not have had. Pagurayan is going to Wyoming, Taam is settling in at San Francisco State and Tapia is weighing his options from a few offers. All three boys kept grinding away, training for a tournament they had to know would never come.

They weren’t alone. The streets were full of young athletes training with no concrete goal in sight, and I believe that kind of discipline is over and above what past champions had to do.

The class of 2021 never got to close the show like the others, but their example during the pandemic should be remembered forever.