It takes work…

Got this from Moanlua judo coach Brandon Maki: Maybe I led you to believe that it was easy, when it wasn’t.  Maybe I made you think my highlight started at the freethrow line, and not in the gym.  Maybe I made you think every shot I took was a game winner.  That my game was […]

Coach Jimmy Wins NWCA Award

Congratulations to coach Jimmy Takatsuka, who was named the 2008-2009 Assistant Coach of the Year for Region 8 by the NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association).  Region 8 consists of the following states:  Hawaii, California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.  This is a well deserved award, and we can all be very proud of him and the […]

Words of Wisdom from Tony Dungy

Sitting in our Rochester hotel room, between lunch & our afternoon workout, watching Fox Sports. There’s a profile of Tony Dungy on and the reporter asked him what he would give the Hall of Fame that best represents what he’s all about. Without hesitation, he says he’d give the only sign that hung in the […]

Matt Oney Inducted into the JE Athletic Hall of Fame

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 Oney Selected as Apprentice Coach for USAW Jr. World Team

Congratulations to Coach Matt Oney, who has been accepted to the USA Wrestling Apprentice Coach Program and will be traveling in July to Ankara, Turkey for the Junior World Championship. 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 […]

Sportsmanship

One of the rewards of the success we had on Saturday night was the good will and kind words of our competitors. Oney & I have been at this for a LONG time (this year marks our 19th season stewarding the Punahou program) and we?ve built some great relationships with the other coaches and wrestlers […]

Results thus far

Aloha all- My apologies for the tardiness of this first update, this season and school year are going way faster than I can keep up with. ?Our wrestlers have had, on paper, a successful start to the season. ?You all know me well enough to know what I mean. ?We’ve won some tournaments and duals, […]

Congratulations, Sani

Check this morning’s Advertiser: Sani Fuimaono (285) was named to the 2008 Advertiser All-State football team. Proud of you, Sani Boy!

Observations from the Officials’ Tournament

Here are some random thoughts I had about this week’s tournament: It’s a shame more care wasn’t put into seeding the brackets. Setting up brackets so that the “top” wrestlers are separated is one of the more time consuming parts of a tournament and it’s usually the reason most tournaments start late. That said, the […]

Heart of a Champion – Part 2

I’ve gotten quite a bit of positive feedback on the article I wrote last February about Bryson Fukushima and Arnold Toriumi. I’m glad people enjoyed reading about how they confronted their challenges with such positive attitudes and I’m glad those two young men got at least some acknowledgement of their efforts. For those who aren’t […]

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