Since stepping on the mat four years ago to join the Wolfpack, Cassidy Oshiro has continued to sharpen his grappling skills as a member of the Pac-Five wrestling team.

Appropriately, Oshiro’s razor-sharp skill set and ferocity in the ring have earned him the moniker of “Buzz Saw.” The wrestler has lived up to the name, mowing down competitors to the tune of two consecutive state championships — in the 108- and 116-pound weight divisions.

“Cassidy’s been wrestling with us since he was in eighth grade and he’s very tenacious, a quick study in wrestling, and has good body awareness,” said Pac-Five coach Aaron Sekulich. “As a result of that, we called him ‘Buzz Saw’ from an early age. He’s progressively gotten better. He trains hard during the offseason. He pushes himself. He’s really hardcore and has devoted himself to the sport. He really means a lot to me as a coach.”

Oshiro chuckles when asked about the origin of his nickname. Behind a cloak of humility, the Maryknoll senior takes pride in his success gained through a relentless pursuit of victory.

“I came in to Pac-Five wrestling in the middle of my eighth-grade year, and I was just going through people, winning matches,” Oshiro said. “My coach would say, ‘You’re just like a buzz saw,’ and the name just stayed with me.”

The senior was relatively new to the sport when he first participated in Pac-Five practices, but Oshiro relied on his background in judo to quickly catch up to his sparring partners.

“When I first started wrestling, it was a lot of growing up,” he said. “The environment in the room included my older brother (Brandon, who currently wrestles collegiately at Maryville University in St. Louis) and some of my practice partners, and it was very competitive. Everybody got better. I’m very competitive and strive to win, so there’s a lot of self-motivation and passion along with the competitive nature of the sport.”

Sekulich describes his second-year team captain as a positive “role model for behavior and expectations” with an excellent grasp of the sport’s technical aspects.

“I’m always on offense, always attacking; applying pressure and setting the pace,” Oshiro said of his polished technique. “Being aggressive and raising the intensity level. That’s the mentality I’ve always had and the coaches have always pushed (me to achieve). I like to use that style because a lot of opponents can’t hang with me for all three rounds. Even though you might be tired, by pushing the pace, they’re just as tired. When they’re tired, that’s when you can pick your moves and go for takedowns, and really start to pick your opponent apart.”

The wrestler currently competes at 120 pounds, but Oshiro could move up depending on where he stands weight-wise and “where our team stands,” said Sekulich. Pac-Five is in an interesting state-tournament situation, as its wrestlers compete under the flags of their individual member schools such as, in Oshiro’s case, Maryknoll. Thus, Pac-Five does not earn team points toward the team championship; rather each school earns the respective points. As Sekulich explained, this is done so the Interscholastic League of Honolulu will have enough berths in the state tournament.

“Pac-Five is in a unique situation. We’ll never have a state title, even though we have some pretty good wrestlers,” he said. “We’ve done well recently, but they’re scoring points for their individual school, not Pac-Five. We just keep a personal tally to reflect our team score, so we see how we rank that way. We’d like to be in the top three as a team doing it that way.”

In preparation for his run at a third straight state crown, Oshiro spent the offseason competing in prestigious tournaments featuring some of the country’s top grapplers.

“Offseason training and going to mainland tournaments is where I can face a different level of competition and different styles of competition against high-caliber opponents and different people than I face in Hawaii,” Oshiro said.

Oshiro earned a spot in the Super 32 wrestling tournament held in Greensboro, N.C., on Oct. 29-30, a tournament that featured top-level prep wrestlers from more than 40 states, including multiple state champions.

“Every match at that tournament is like a state title match here,” said Oshiro, who placed fourth in the 113-pound division.

Over the summer, Oshiro competed in the Junior and Cadet National Championships in Fargo, N.D., which featured competition in both freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling disciplines. High school and collegiate competitions feature folkstyle, while freestyle and Greco Roman wrestling are involved at the Olympic and international levels.

“It’s a different feel of wrestling, and it helps you improve as an overall wrestler,” Oshiro said. “There were some tough opponents from all over the nation. It was an adventure to go to.”

Oshiro has an oral commitment to attend the Air Force Academy, and if he follows through with the plan, he’ll enroll in the school’s preparatory academy for a year as a bridge before entering the Air Force. A perk of attending the campus in Colorado Springs is the close proximity to the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

“It’s one of the best schools, and there are a lot of benefits that come with joining the Air Force,” Oshiro said. “And, the Olympic Training Center is right in your back yard, so you can train with the top athletes at the top level, as well.”

When asked about possibly wrestling in the Olympics one day, Oshiro replied: “Yeah, I could see myself possibly doing that, at least trying to make an Olympic team.”

Beyond the mat, Oshiro plans to study either business management or business operations, but has been toying with the idea of joining the FBI, with hopes of using his military skill set gleaned from the Air Force. “The military side of things kind of intrigues me,” he said.

It appears as though Oshiro is undaunted by his imminent climb to the collegiate ranks; after all, nothing has stopped the buzz saw yet.