The JV team had an even more frustrating performance, wrestling below their abilities on too many occasions.  They finished in 2nd, behind a very tough and loaded Kamehameha JV team.  We have a good  group of wrestlers who are willing to do the work, so we’re gonna have to continue pushing forward and hopefully get many of them to attend the off season training and continue to improve on their abilities.  We know we can be better in the future.

The boys and girls varsity continued to strive for their ultimate goals, and put themselves in position to finish strong.  Both qualified all possible weight classes (14 for the boys, and 10 for girls (we don’t have a 220 girl wrestler)) for the states this weekend.  Both teams were able to pull away from the rest of the teams over the course of the tournament and win the ILH Team Championships.  Though we know we still didn’t wrestle our best, which frankly excites us as we don’t need to truly peak until this weekend at states, we did have several key wrestlers work through their injuries and survive the weekend qualifying for states and with the potential to improve their health even slightly more through the week.  We expect to continue working hard this week and polishing up and improving our technique in certain positions, and know that there will be several teams pushing hard to finish on top this weekend, including us.

If at all possible, we’d love to see you either Friday and/or Saturday at the Blaisdell for the excitement of this tournament.
Thank you for all the continued support.

Saturday once again found us hosting the Intermediate and JV round robin tournament, the last of the season.  Our boys and girls varsity teams did an excellent job of setting up the brackets and running the tables, and our younger wrestlers continued to show their development.  We can definitely see the progress of the 7th and 8th graders, and also of several of the JV’s as well.

This week Friday and Saturday the JV, Vars, and Girls will be competing in the ILH Dual Meet Tournament at Maryknoll.  Next weekend, yes Distraction Weekend, will be the ILH Championships (for all levels) at Kamehameha.  As always, we’d love to see you at any/all of these if you can make it.

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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

Bouncing back from a lackluster performance last week, our wrestlers stepped up when it counted and had an outstanding ILH Tournament. Boys Varsity and Boys JV both recaptured ILH Championships and the Girls were runners-up, in spite of forfeiting three out of eleven weight classes.

Varsity put their only loss of the season behind them and rolled to a 32 point victory over Kamehameha. They won six individual championships and set themselves up very well for this weekend’s state championship.

JV also captured six individual titles on their way to 42 point victory, wrapping their season up with a strong finish. The JV started their season wrestling a bit sloppy, but honed their technique and focus as the season wore on and capped it off with a sharp and spirited championship tournament.

Although the Girls missed repeating as ILH champions by just 3.5 points, they wrestled incredibly well, winning championships in six out of eleven weight classes. The Girls team has fought hard all season long, in spite of forfeiting three weight classes, and though they face an uphill battle against Kahuku & Kamehameha, cannot be counted out to repeat as state champions this coming weekend.

We’re very proud of how our wrestlers stepped up to the challenges of the season, especially as the competition increased in the last week. They bent, but did not break and showed their strong will and discipline in the championship tournament. Congratulations to the JV on a fantastic season! To our Varsity Boys & Girls – the biggest and best week is yet to come!

Varsity Boys Team Results

Individual Champions

Varsity Girls Team Results

Individual Champions

Junior Varsity Boys Team Results

Individual Champions

After nearly 8 hours of all-out tussling and bodyslams, Punahou emerged yesterday evening as the kings of the boys Interscholastic League of Honolulu wrestling.

Punahou Boys Rule ILH

The rivalry between Kamehameha and Punahou in boys wrestling is heating up.

In the last dual tournament before the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championships this Saturday, the Warriors defeated Punahou 31-24 in the final round yesterday afternoon to capture the team title.

The victory halted Punahou’s undefeated regular season to the surprise of several ILH coaches. Punahou, which features three returning state champions, has been the leader in league points all season, followed closely by Kamehameha.

See the whole article here.

Our Girls wrestled well this weekend, while the Boys (at both levels) have a lot of work to do as we head into the last week of the ILH season. The Girls looked sharp as they avenged two earlier losses to Kamehameha and repeated as ILH Dual Meet Champions. We’re particularly proud of the Girls’ performance, considering they’re still forfeiting three weight classes.

What JV lacked in execution, they made up for in tenacity as they held off Kamehameha to win the tournament. Always spirited, but often sloppy, we’ve got some work to do in this final week of their season to polish our fundamentals and get on track for a strong finish.

A very fired-up Kamehameha team simply out-hustled and out-fought us at the Varsity level to win the tournament and prevent our boys from winning for the fifth consecutive year. Individual match victories were knotted at 7-7, but Kamehameha had more pins and more major victories as they scrapped to a 31-24 victory. Like the JV, the Varsity Boys have a lot to work on in this final week of the ILH season and we hope we can make the necessary adjustments.

Boys Varsity Final Standings

1) Kamehameha
2) Punahou
3) Iolani
4) St. Louis
5) Damien
6) Pac-5

Finals Matches
1st Place – Kamehameha beats Punahou 31-24
3rd Place – Iolani beats St. Louis 51-21
5th Place – Damien beats Pac-5 38-30

Girls Varsity Final Standings

1) Punahou
2) Kamehameha
3) Pac-5
4) Iolani

Finals Matches
1st Place – Punahou beats Kamehameha 33-27
3rd Place – Pac-5 beats Iolani 33-12

Junior Varsity Final Standings

1) Punahou
2) Kamehameha
3) Pac-5
4) St. Louis
5) Iolani
6) Damien

Finals Matches
1st Place – Punahou beats Kamehameha 33-31
3rd Place – Pac-5 beats St. Louis 42-36
5th Place – Iolani beats Damien 36-28