LIHU‘E — There was excitement at Kaua‘i High School Tuesday as the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation took another step closer to the inaugural wrestling season. Athletic directors from four high schools who are participating in the inaugural season, as well as
LIHU‘E — There was excitement at Kaua‘i High School Tuesday as the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation took another step closer to the inaugural wrestling season.
Athletic directors from four high schools who are participating in the inaugural season, as well as a representative from the KIF, converged at the Kaua‘i High School athletic field where a container of wrestling mats was being unpacked and the mats prepared for distribution to the schools.
Diane Nitta of the KIF said they are grateful to Vic Angoco and DeWayne Kong of Matson Navigation Co. and the trucking services for saving the KIF about $8,000 in shipping costs.
“It’s always good to see good things happening for our schools,” said Kong, president of Matson, Kaua‘i. “Because it helps our kids, Vic Angoco, the senior vice president of Matson in the Pacific, has an easier time to approve these types of gestures which benefit our students.”
Greg Gonsalves, athletic director for Kapa‘a High School, said KIF wrestling gets serious starting next week when they begin weight monitoring.
“Kids still have about two weeks to sign up for wrestling at any of the high schools and will be able to wrestle for this season,” Gonsalves said.
Jon Kobayashi, athletic director at Waimea High School, said the students need to be in a weight class to be able to wrestle in the upcoming season, and the weight monitoring program gets them classified.
Waimea, under head coach Richard Cappellino, currently has five boys and one girl registered, Kobayashi said.
Gonsalves said at Kapa‘a they have about 20 boys and about six girls registered under head coach Andrew Smith.
“Our coach said there are 14 weight classes for the boys and with the amount of boys we have, we should be able to get in at least 10 of the classes,” Gonsalves said.
Island School, with head coach Erin Cobb-Adams, has five or six boys and possibly one girl registered, said Kaipo Kealalio, the school’s athletic director.
Kaua‘i High School, with Matt Ballard as head coach, has 15 boys and four girls registered, but possibly having more boys following football, said Ross Shimabukuro, the Kaua‘i athletic director.
Ray “Coach Mac” Pigott of Westside Wrestling, a USA Wrestling Charter Club, said the wrestlers from Waimea High School have been working under their community program and will be heading to the ‘Aiea Invitational with Cappellino, where they have a Novice division for first-time wrestlers.
“Right now, we have five Westside wrestlers who will be with Waimea and one wrestler who drives over from Kapa‘a,” said Pigott, who has been working with the KIF to get the wrestling season off the ground. “We also have an eighth-grade student from the Waimea Canyon Middle School who will be the Menehune’s manager and plans to wrestle next year as a freshman.”
Pigott said these clinics, all of which take place off-island, are helpful to people, and that Tom Perry and Paul Zina, both of whom have indicated interest in officiating, have already started their training by attending these matches and getting in some officiating.
The first KIF wrestling match is scheduled for Jan. 12 starting at 10 a.m. at the Kaua‘i High School gym. Students interested in signing up for any of the wrestling programs can see their respective athletic directors.
