2009 NWCA National Scholastic Award Recipients

In a performance that truly defines the concept of “team”, our wrestlers pulled together and delivered a series of incredible matches to repeat as both Boys & Girls State Champions.

All season long, the coaches emphasized the wisdom of Joe Paterno, when he said “Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.” In the state tournament, the wrestlers took this to heart, scoring pins when needed and grinding out tough wins when it counted, and securing the team title in spite of serious challenges.

The Boys were impressive in both the first round of the tournament and the semi-final round, racking up enough pins to pull away from second place Kamehameha in spite of a few big losses.

Several wrestlers favored to win/repeat as state champions were upset in what the Star Bulletin called “stunning losses”. But true to their character, they put their personal disappointment aside and finished the tournament with pins. The rest of the team also rallied, earning pins and crucial placement points. So solid was their wrestling that the Boys finished the tournament within striking distance of last year’s scoring record.

Whereas everyone on the Boys team stepped up their performance to counter the upsets against them, the Girls pulled together to overcome the superior numbers of OIA champions Kahuku and repeated as State Champions by an incredibly thin margin of just 2.5 points. With just 8 girls entered in the tournament (vs. Kahuku’s 10), the Girls put five into the finals and scored key pin points to earn the team victory. In spite of the numbers being stacked against them, the Girls were undaunted, believing until the very end that they had what it took to win.

Congratulations to State Champions Jordan Ng (114), Todd Murakawa (125), Galen McCleary (140), Chrissy Chow (125), Mindy Chow (130), and Kaimana Lundquist (155).

Full results can be found at the links below.

Boys Final Standings
Boys Final Results
Boys Final Brackets

Girls Final Standings
Girls Final Results
Girls Final Brackets

The formal announcement from the HHSAA:

Due to the tsunami warning, the HHSAA State Wrestling Championships will be rescheduled to Sunday, February 28, 2010.  Weigh-ins will begin at 7 a.m. (scratch weight plus 4 pounds).  Wrestling will begin immediately after weigh-ins and wrestling will continue, without break, until completion.  Further information will be provided as it becomes available.

To our Punahou Ohana:
The HHSAA is concerned that many of the neighbor island competitors and their families may not be able to get flights out tomorrow after the tournament. Punahou and McKinley have offered their gyms for families to stay at and we have been asked to provide additional kokua. Depending upon the number of stranded families, we may need to help with extra blankets, pillows, etc. for the families staying at the gyms, as well as possibly coordinating a potluck Sunday evening. If there are a smaller number of families stuck overnight, we may ask for families willing to be hosts for an overnight stay.

The situation is obviously very much in flux, so I will provide updates as needs become clearer. I just wanted to give the ohana a heads-up. THANK YOU in advance for your support!

Friday, February 26, 2010
Preliminary Round 10:00 a.m.

Saturday, February 27, 2010
Semifinals & Consolation Rounds 3 & 4 10:00 a.m.
Introductions 3:00 p.m.
Championship & Consolation Finals to follow Introductions

Grapplers Put Everything on the Fine Line

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