Nine Kaua‘i wrestlers medal in AAU tournament By The Garden Island Todd Kane, a Kaua‘i High School senior, captured first place in the High School Less than 150 lb. division to lead the K-PAL wrestling contingent in their search for
Nine Kaua‘i wrestlers medal in AAU tournament
By The Garden Island
Todd Kane, a Kaua‘i High School senior, captured first place in the High School Less than 150 lb. division to lead the K-PAL wrestling contingent in their search for medals at the recent AAU Regional State Tournament held on Maui.
Kane, in accepting the medal, noted that he is headed for Massachusetts Institute of Technology where this title will enable him to wrestle on the college team.
K-PAL will be sponsoring Kane’s participation in the national tournament scheduled for July 14 in New Mexico. To this end, K-PAL welcomes personal and company contributions to help defray expenses. A series Kane’s trip to the national competition is also planned.
Checks should note “KPAL Wrestling” and can be mailed to the Kaua‘i Police Activities League, 3990 Kaana St., Suite 200, Lihu‘e, HI 96766-1268.
Despite never experiencing competition prior to the Maui tournament, nine of the 15 K-PAL youth placed in their respective divisions with Kane nailing his division’s championship.
Archilles Singson placed fourth in that same division with Ivan Kuapahi finishing third in the High School Heavyweight Division, Christopher Scholl taking the fourth place in that same division.
Kailee Andrade, the only girl in the K-PAL program, was awarded the third place medal in the High School Girls division.
Other medal winners from the K-PAL contingent included John Pearson taking fourth place in the School Boy Division, Richard Kaui nailing third in the Novice Division, Jake Ozaki placing third in the Midget Division, and Levi Silva earning fourth place in the Bantam Division.
The Kaua‘i team, making history locally by being the first group to travel and participate in this prestigious tournament, was personally congratulated and commended by the tournament originator and organizer, Mike Donahoo.
Donahoo told the team he was very surprised, and impressed by their progress in such a short period of time.
Over 300 youth participated in the day-long tournament that took place at the Maui Memorial Gym. A total of 13 teams participated with Maui showing their strength with six teams. Two teams, including one from Punahou, came in from O‘ahu, one from Molokai, one from the Big Island, and three ad hoc teams made up the field.
Kaua‘i’s youth wrestling team was developed collaboratively through the support of Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste as part of his anti-drug effort, the Kaua‘i Police Department, and members of the community seven months ago.
The program is managed by Mark Ozaki of the K-PAL. Through an ambitious and enthusiastic participation by police and the community, KPAL activities now include over a thousand youth in addition to its wrestling program.
