On Tuesday, December 13th the Punahou Intermediate wrestling team held a joint practice with the Washington Intermediate Eagle Wrestling club. Coached by Brett Kumabe c/o ’95 the Washington Eagles and Punahou Buff n Blue have collaborated on a number of successful projects in the past, and continued that success with a spirited and eventful afternoon.

Getting to Know Each Other

The day started off with warm-ups, stretching and getting to know each other. We learned all sorts of information about each other like where we are from and our favorite ice cream flavors, school subjects, and video games. We practiced our neutral position and spin drills with the help of varsity wrestlers Nicole Taniguchi c/o ’12, Brian Peralta c/o ’12, and L.J. Remillard c/o ’13. We had fun learning different moves and seeing different styles of wrestling.

Working on Basing Up

After a short water break and reviewing how to base up from the bottom position we moved on to every wrestlers favorite part of practice…..WRESTLING! We broke up into groups of three and banged heads (both figuratively and literally). This was the most enjoyable part of practice and the wrestlers got a lot out of it. We ended the day learning to walk like an elephant, crawl like a bear, and learning to play chess… Like a Wrestler!

Much Aloha to Coach Brett, Joey, Andrew and the entire Washington Intermediate Eagles Wrestling club for visiting Punahou and providing us a tremendous opportunity to share and advance the sport we love. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Washington Intermediate and wish everyone a happy holiday season!

Coach Mike

Under Overs

Double Leg Takedown!

Showing the boys how its done!

Battling for Position!

Collar Tie!

Lower your stances!

Wrestling is hard but fun. =)

Putting away mats at the end of the day

This past weekend our intermediate wrestling team had two great opportunities to advance their knowledge in the sport of wrestling. Our first year wrestlers competed in their first tournament at Washington Intermediate School, and our veterans got to watch some of the best wrestling in the state at the first Pa’ani Challenge Girls Wrestling Tournament.

It was a great day for our first years who competed for the first time in a scrimmage with the Washington Intermediate Eagle Wrestling Program. Coach Brett Kumabe c/o ’95 set this up and we are grateful to have had this preseason opportunity. There was some awesome wrestling on both sides and we continued to cultivate our relationship with our brother/sister school down the road.

Our veterans and some zealous first years who couldn’t get enough helped run the first Pa’ani Challenge at Punahou. They saw some of the best girls from around the state go head to head for the first time this year. The field included national champions, state champions, and multiple state placers. We appreciate the intermediates help and the opportunity to learn and grow.

We’ve had a great first month of wrestling and hope to see you all at the ILH intermediate tournament at the St. Louis Field House. Approximate start time of 9:30am-10:00am.

Aloha,

Coach Mike

We’re on the ground, trying to stay warm, and looking forward to some great wrestling. Check out all the updates from our trip by clicking here. You can also follow us on Twitter (@pwpcoach) for more random tidbits.

On June 2, 2009, Coach Matt Oney was inducted into his high school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Coach Oney wasn’t able to attend in person so Jordan-Elbridge Athletic Director Brad Hamer presented the award to World Champion Gene Mills, who accepted on Oney’s behalf. Also there to honor Coach Oney were his high school lacrosse coach, his high school wrestling coach, and of course, his mother.

Congratulations Coach Oney!

(In the photo, from L to R, are lacrosse coach Rick Young, wrestling coach Mike Frood, Mrs. Oney, AD Brad Hamer, and Mean Gene Mills)

Coach Oney will be a member of the official USA delegation and will be included in all events and activities associated with the competition. Besides the opportunity to work with some of the best wrestlers in the country, Coach Oney will also be learning from some of the best coaches in the United States.

Final Team Standings

Final Team Standings

The program has two main purposes. First, it identifies the lowest weight that a wrestler can healthily achieve during the season; and second, it sets a descent plan that dictates how quickly (or rather, slowly) the wrestler can descend to that weight class.

Determining the lowest weight class that wrestlers can compete at is a three-step process. First, they must pass a hydration test; second, they are given a skin fold test using calipers; and finally, they’re weighed. The entire process is conducted by the ILH trainers and overseen by the league coordinator.

There are four designated days on which this testing is done. This year, those dates are November 25th, December 9th, December 16th, and January 9th. Once a wrestler passes the test, they’re done and don’t need to take the test again on the subsequent dates.

At Punahou, our goal is to have as many of our wrestlers pass the first testing session as possible. We usually have one or two who need to go to the second session and rarely have anyone at the third or fourth.

Once the lowest healthy weight is determined, a descent plan is computed and posted to the National Wrestling Coaches of America (NWCA) web site. By rule, a wrestler is only allowed to lose 1.5% of their body weight each week. At each week’s weigh-in, the coaches must submit a form that shows where every wrestler is vs. their decent plan and each week’s weigh-in data is uploaded to the NWCA site so the state can track everyone.

If you’re interested in all the details, the official HHSAA weight monitoring rules and reference guide can be found here.

If you have any questions about how this impacts your wrestler’s situation, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the coaches.