Maui 2010… Donkeys… Cheesecake… and much much more!

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