LIHUE — It’s been four years since the Kauai Interscholastic Federation adopted wrestling as a sanctioned sport among Kauai’s high schools. Those student-athletes who took part that first year were eager to learn. That was good, because they had a
LIHUE — It’s been four years since the Kauai Interscholastic Federation adopted wrestling as a sanctioned sport among Kauai’s high schools.
Those student-athletes who took part that first year were eager to learn. That was good, because they had a lot of ground to cover.
“Nobody had ever wrestled a match. So, we were pretty much starting from scratch — our entire league was starting from scratch,” said Kauai High School wrestling coach Matt Ballard. “For these kids, yes, they’ve came a long way since they were freshmen. I’m excited to see how they do this year.”
The KIF wrestling season begins Saturday. There are five seniors who have been with the program since its inception: Kauai High’s Bryson Yoro, Sierra Sanoe Kalama, Kaisa Ishikawa and Nika Tapucol, and Waimea’s Athens Acosta.
“It was rough for me. I didn’t know anything about shooting or taking people down. I was pretty much clueless going into it,” Yoro, who wrestles in the 145-pound weigh class, said about that first year. “It was my first sport (in high school) that I ever did, too. So, it was tough.”
Yoro added though he and the others learned a lot that first year, but they didn’t realize how far behind Kauai was compared to the rest of Hawaii until that first state tournament they competed in.
“At states, we kind of got an awakening,” he said. “We thought we were all tough. Then we hit the Oahu guys, and they were like 50 years ahead of us. But we’re catching up.”
Kalama, whose father was also a wrestler when he was in high school on Maui, at first was reluctant to try the sport.
“I actually didn’t want to wrestle, but my dad made me wrestle my freshman year. And I ended up loving wrestling, so I just stuck with it,” Kalama said. “I thought it was a manly sport and there was a lot of contact and beating up. But then we had a lot of girls here.”
Kalama, who placed second in the 138-pound weight class at the Paani Challenge Punahou Girls Invitational last month, said she had a hard time at her first state tournament, but that’s why she kept at it.
“I got beat pretty bad, but I ended up just liking it,” she said. “It made me want to come back and just be good.”
Waimea coach Rich Capellino also said that first year at states was an “eye-opener.” Of all of Kauai’s representatives, then-Menehune senior Marissa Hesepene had the KIF’s lone win.
“It was eye-opening experience for every wrestler that participated in the KIF. The coaches, we all knew. We’ve all been around the block. We knew what to expect. We knew what the state tournament was like,” Capellino said. “We went in optimistic, but we were realistic as well.”
He added since then, the KIF has gained ground to the rest of the state, but still has its work cut out.
“I would say that we’ve learned from our mistakes,” Capellino said. “I would say we as the KIF have become tighter. We know the challenges that we face. We’re four years in now. We’re still fresh, but we are gaining experience every year.”
Acosta couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. Capellino said Acosta has an “optimistic outlook to the sport” and that’s what will be missed when he moves on.
“Athens, he’s come a long way. I’m extremely proud of him for sticking it out four years. He has developed, not only as a wrestler, but as a student-athlete. It’s going to be sad to see him leaving the program,” Capellino said. “He always wants to learn more.”
Ballard said watching these seniors progress has been something and he will miss their leadership as being the ones who’ve done it since the beginning.
“They’ve won matches at state, which is a huge deal for us — to go and win a match or two at state. They’re the leaders of the team,” he said. “Mostly, what we’re going to miss is the memories of where we started with pretty much nothing but a wrestling mat.”
Capellino said these seniors are the “pioneers” of KIF wrestling.
“The wrestlers who are graduating this year, who have been with the program four years, they’re the ones who laid the groundwork for the sport here. They’re the ones who years from now are going to come back, and once the KIF becomes as competitive with all the islands, they’re the ones that are going to come back and say I was here when it started. That’s something, I think, to be really proud of.”
Kalama hopes KIF wrestling will continue the path and become bigger years from now. As for now, she and her teammates hope to qualify for states this year.
“I think it’s going to grow. It’s already growing. I hope it gets popular. The other islands, their wrestling is on top. I just hope Kauai will be like that,” she said.
Yoro will be sad to leave after the season.
“We’re really close, but it sucks that I’m leaving now right when we’re getting there. It taught me a lot,” he said. “It’s a sport where it’s all you, pretty much … It’s a lot of tough work. I’m going to miss that.”
