This past Thursday, May 20^th Punahou wrestlers practiced and competed with the Washington Intermediate Eagle Wrestling Club for the last time this year.  This event capped off a successful month of joint practices and getting to know each other.

The day started off with warm-ups and team building.  Then our own Evan Johnson (2x state placer) started off a clinic with arm drag setups to a single leg.  Next Mckinley’s Bradley Suda (2x state placer and runner-up this year at 108lbs) demonstrated one of his favorite single leg finishes (An inside trip).  After learning these moves and drilling, the wrestling started.  It was an action packed meet with a lot of scoring and good, hard wrestling.  In the most anticipated matchup of the night Brett Kumabe c/o ’95 matched up with Brett Will c/’11 for an exciting match won by Brett Will.

Once the mats were put away we enjoyed a night of food and fellowship with the Eagles Wrestling Club and staff from the Boys and Girls Club.  We had a great time and would like to thank Coach Brett Kumabe for setting this up and providing us with such great opportunities.  What a coach!

We had a great time and look forward to working with them next year!

Coach Nelson coaches team "Brett Will and Friends"

Mckinley's Marilyn, Bradley Suda and Punahou's Bryan Peralta and Evan Johnson keep score

Alex and Hanale

The Bow n Arrow

Puma Michael Saito in his first wrestling match

Coach Brett Kumabe and Brett Will

This past weekend Punahou wrestlers from all levels competed in the annual AAU Maui State Wrestling Championships.  It was a great opportunity for our varsity wrestlers to get their feet wet in their first freestyle competition of the season, and for our younger wrestlers to compete against new opponents from different islands.

This year’s tournament of 552 participants was contested on 8 mats, Saturday May 15^th at the Lahaina Civic Center.  It was a great day of wrestling for all, and Punahou ended the day with three individual champions:  Josh Crimmins, Makana Valdez, and Nicole Taniguchi.

During down time the kids engaged in a variety of activities.  Among the highlights were dinner at Ka’ahumanu Mall, jumping whales on the drive to Lahaina, donkey and sheep petting, endless shenanigans at the Puma Inn, cooking breakfast together, eating 15 lbs of bacon and Portuguese sausage, Krispy Kreme, and learning that Tasaka’s Guri Guri shop is closed on Sundays =(.

Once again we were fortunate to stay at the Puma Inn in Makawao.  The kids had a lot of fun and spent time getting to know wrestlers from other grade levels.  Much gratitude goes out to the outstanding upperclassmen leadership on the trip, and to the young ones for bringing an endless amount of energy and enthusiasm.

Despite missing our initial flight, we were able to get all students and coaches back to Oahu by late Sunday evening.  We had a great time and look forward to next years trip!

Coach Mike

-If your kids have nothing to do and want to be back on the mat, we have practices in the varsity wrestling room on tuesdays and thursdays from 3:00-5:00.  These will go until the last week of the year. 

-Every year Maui hosts the largest wrestling tournament in the state.  The very best youth wrestling programs in the state will be there, so in a sense… This is the unofficial K-8 wrestling state tournament.  As coaches we really feel like we had a great year on so many levels, and we would love to offer this one last wrestling opportunity before school is up.  This is a fun trip that we do every year, and the wrestlers get to experience a tournament with over 500 competitors and fans spilling out of the stands on to the mat.  We will be staying in Makawao at an alumni’s house and competing in Lahaina, Maui at the Civic Center.  The dates are May 14-16. 

If you are interested read the attached document, book your flight and pay coach Nelson by May 10th.  This information will be handed out at practice (Tues/Thurs 3:00-5:00) and posted on the website. 
Coach Mike

When:  May 14 – May 16. 
 Tournament:  May 15, 8:00a.m.-X:XXp.m.  The tournament will end when all participants have concluded wrestling.

Where:  The tournament will be at the Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Maui.  We will be staying at an alumni’s house in up country Makawao area. 

Why:  To continue learning and growing together through competition and life

How: Parents are responsible for booking the following flights with Go Airlines:  
 Flight # YV1039 Departs: Honolulu, 5:35pm  Arrives: Kahului, 6:10pm
 Flight # YV1006 Departs: Kahului, 4:45pm  Arrives: Honolulu, 5:17pm

Cost:   $125= Vans and Gas, AAU Membership, Tournament Entry Fee, and Food (2B, 2L, 2D)

Maui Checklist:
Sleeping Bag or Warm Blanket
Pillow
Toiletries (Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo)
Underwear/Shirts/Shorts 2-3
Swimwear (Jacuzzi on site, and possible beach trip)
Footwear (Shoes or slippers will suffice for non-wrestling days)
Wrestling Shoes
Socks
Optional:
Extra Spending Cash (For possible mall outings, movies, extra snacks etc.)
Homework/A deck of cards/Video Game Stuff (Remember that you are responsible for your personal belongings)
PUMA INN
 

Schedule of Events
Friday 5/14
5:30pm-6:30pm Leave Oahu and arrive on Maui
7:00pm-8:00pm Pickup vans and drive to Puma Inn
9:30pm-10:00pm Lights out

Saturday 5/15
6:00am-6:30am Wake up and drive to Lahaina
7:30am-8:00am Arrive at Lahaina Civic Center
8:00am   Weigh-ins
9:30am-10:00am  Wrestling Begins
7:30pm-9:30pm  Wrestling concludes followed by award ceremonies
xx:xxpm  Dinner at the Puma Inn

Sunday 5/16
6:00am-8:00am Wake up
10:00am-12:00pm Pack up and clean house
12:00pm-4:00pm Leave house, Breakfast, Mall/Movies/Beach/Etc.
4:00pm-6:30pm Return vans and return to Oahu

Chaperones: Michael Lee  cell:(503) 809-6761
  Nelson Nomura cell:(808) 782-9186
  Todd Fujie  cell:(808) 258-1522

Puma Inn Address:
1950 Olinda Road, Makawao, 96768

As the 2010 school year begins winding down, we wanted to update you of all wrestling related activities occurring through the end of the school year and throughout the summer.  Below is a brief synopsis of each activity.   A detailed itinerary and/or information regarding each specific activity will be sent out accordingly. 

April:
-USAW Season and Tournaments (Puma/Inter/JV/Vars)
USAW tournaments have already begun and will run until May 29th.  During this season your wrestler will have opportunities to wrestle both freestyle (One of two Olympic styles of wrestling), and folk-style.   USAW tournaments require the purchase of an annual USAW card.  The cost of a USAW card is $35 and can only be purchased online at the following website: http://www.usawmembership.com/

May:
-AAU Maui Invitational Wrestling Tournament May, 15th Lahaina, Maui (Puma/Inter/JV/Vars)
In May Punahou will be competing in the annual AAU Maui Invitational Wrestling Tournament.  The tournament is open to all grade levels K-12, with K-8 wrestling folk-style and 9-12 wrestling freestyle.  This is a great opportunity for our youth programs to wrestle different teams with different styles, and to develop positive relationships with our neighbor island teams.  This tournament is also a great chance for high school wrestlers to wrestle a different style of wrestling that will help prepare them for next season, especially those who plan on going to Fargo with Team Hawaii later this summer.  We plan on leaving Friday, May, 14th in the early evening and returning Sunday, May 16th about the same time.  A Maui itinerary will be posted to the website shortly as well as handouts to be passed out at our Tuesday/Thursday practices.

-Punahou Puma Judo Program
Beginning in May, Puma and Intermediate Coach Nelson Nomura will be starting a youth Judo club that will meet on Monday’s and Wednesday’s from 3:00pm-4:00pm in the wrestling room.  Judo is a great sport that helps athletes with their balance, body awareness and mental focus.  Judo will help your children learn to take a fall safely, increase their flexibility and provide them with a healthy perspective on life.  We look forward to the growth and success of this program and wish Coach Nelson the best.  More details to follow. 

-Washington Intermediate Eagle Wrestling Club Scrimmage (Inter)
Washington Intermediate 6th grade teacher and Coach Brett Kumabe (c/o ‘95) recently restarted the Washington Intermediate Eagle Wrestling Club.  Per our preexisting relationship, we would like to continue working together as neighboring schools in the wrestling community.  During the month of May we will have two joint practices with the Eagle wrestling club and an intermediate dual meet, games, award and potluck day to celebrate our friendship, and the ending  to our school years.  More details to follow.
 
-Spring Meat Club Beach Cleanup (Puma/Inter/JV/Vars)
The Punahou Meat Club will conclude their service projects with their Spring BBQ Makapu’u beach cleanup.  For those of you who didn’t make it out last time, you missed an awesome event and a fabulous meal.  While this event is optional, we are encouraging as many wrestlers to make it out as possible.  More details to follow.

Summer/June-July:

-Summer Wrestling (Puma/Inter/JV/Vars)
Summer wrestling practice will be on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 3:15-4:15 in Forrest Hall and will run concurrently with Punahou Summer School.  During this time period we will be focusing solely on folk-style.  To participate in summer wrestling your child must sign up through the Punahou summer school catalog. 

-Aloha State Games (Puma/Inter/JV/Vars)
The Aloha State Games is not a USAW event, and will be held in June.  This event is open to all levels and will be wrestled in Freestyle and Greco Roman.  More details to follow.  

-Steve Knight TEAM EXCEL Wrestling Camp Wednesday, June 30th – Saturday, July 3rd
Steve Knight is a former NCAA All American, Big Twelve Champion, freestyle world medalist and longtime coach with USAW.  He most recently coached the US national team in France at the Henri Deglane Invitational, and is director and head coach of Team Excel.  Steve has a great relationship with Hawaii and has been doing this camp for many years.  He is a great motivator and understands wrestlers of all levels.  His camp staff always includes some of the best wrestlers in the country and we highly recommend this camp for Punahou wrestlers of all ages.  

-Punahou Wrestling Summer Service Project
We are planning on having a program wide service event at some point during the summer.  More details to follow.

Thank you for your time.  All of these opportunities are available to your children, none of them are required.  Thank you for a great season from top to bottom, we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Ciao,

Coach Mike

After a slow start to the morning, the team really picked up the pace and turned in their best performance of the year in the final round. The boy’s team placed 18 wrestlers and finished the day with 9 individual champions. The girl’s team placed 8 wrestlers and finished the day with 4 individual champions.

The boys’ team’s gutsy performance in the last round propelled them to a narrow win over strong team performances from Pac-5 and Kamehameha. Though no official girl’s team’s scores were recorded we placed more girls than any other team.

Congratulations to the Punahou Intermediate Wrestling Team, 2009 ILH Champions!

{Editor’s Note: If you have a picture of the Inter Championship that we can use for this article, please send to me so we can stop using the picture of the high school kids }

JV and Intermediate teams will be wrestling on Saturday only, at St. Louis starting at 10:00a.

As always, if you have any questions please email me or Coach Oney.

Updated Jan 21:

From Coach Al Torres regarding Saturday’s Inter/JV competition at St. Louis:

I have been recently informed that there will be a football combine registration starting at 7:30 am this Saturday and they are expecting a large group of kids participating in this all day event. We also have a ILH soccer game, Chaminade basketball, some kind of retreat, and who knows what else. Needless to say parking is going to be horrific. I would like to emphasize I did not know nor approve the combine event for that day.

Dual Meet Tournament Schedule

Friday, January 22

GIRLS VARSITY

BOYS VARSITY

Saturday, January 23

GIRLS VARSITY

BOYS VARSITY

6:30am: Team meets outside Punahou athletic office

7:00am: Bus leaves from Punahou for Leilehua High School Gym

8:00am: *Bus arrives at Leilehua (Wrestlers meeting us there check in)

-Wrestlers check in and warm up

-Hopefully the meet will begin by 9:30am

2:30pm: Bus leaves Leilehua for Punahou

3:30pm Intermediate team showers and goes to parent night

What you will need:

-Shoes (Wrestling or clean running shoes)

-Socks

-Jock, underwear, panties, compression shorts (Absolutely no boxers)

-Singlet

-Head Gear (Optional for PAL but mandatory for ILH competition)

-A water bottle (A cooler of Gatorade will be provided)

-A scrubby shirt that you have ironed the yellow PAL patch on to (No patch=No wrestling)

Optional:

-Mouth guards (If you have braces they are mandatory for the first ILH competition)

-Knee pads (You can pick some up in the locker room or purchase them locally or online)

-Discman/IPOD etc. (Bring at your own risk, you will be responsible for your own items)

Recommended:

-Backpack/Duffle Bag/Sports Bag etc.

-Homework/Book

-Pillow

-Towel

*If you are meeting us there you must live in central Oahu and you must inform coach Layne by Friday’s practice