I recently learned that high school wrestling was added to Kauai Interscholastic Federation athletics during the years I was away from the newspaper world. It is now apparently a popular and probably permanent fixture in the KIF lineup.
The news made me smile for several reasons.
For one thing, I have loved high school sports ever since two of my sons played varsity football for Kapaa High School years ago.
Granted, I was a typical mom, nervous about them playing a contact sport and the injuries it might cause, but as parents, we supported our team fully, participated in fundraisers and food booths; and cheered until we were hoarse at every football game.
The years my granddaughters and grandsons spent on softball, football, and volleyball were the second reason I smiled.
They gave me a greater understanding of and respect for how much parents and coaches go through to encourage and support kids in their chosen sport.
Building character and good citizenship in young athletes, rather than winning a championship, was the ultimate victory in the long run for coaches who cared.
My final reason to smile was a very different one.
Thinking of wrestling on Kauai brought back vivid memories of a time decades ago when other wrestlers and other referees in other wrestling rings dominated Wednesday nights, television and sports headlines and eventually became so popular matches were even brought to Kauai.
It was the early 1960s. Ed Francis, a wrestler and promoter, had just gotten the rights to host 50th State Big Time Wrestling in Hawaii.
Every Wednesday, wrestlers battled each other in matches that I now realize must have been just as theatrical and fake as today’s professional matches appear to be but at the time we all believed were real.
As 50th State wrestling’s popularity grew, Francis took his matches to the outer islands, coming to Kauai several times, and holding the matches in a ring set up in Kapaa High School gymnasium.
The wrestlers were colorful characters who seemed to fall into three categories: the good the bad and the ugly.
The good were always handsome, physically perfect and ethical and fair (or at least we thought they were.)
Nick Bockwinkel (whose daughter lives on Kauai) was definitely one of these. So was Ed Francis and his sons, Billy and Russ, Neff Maiava, Lord Tallyho Blears, and of course, Chief Billy Whitewolf.
The bad were very bad: mean and nasty; Guys you just loved to hate.
Curtis Iaukea, (a fascinating character whose locker room interviews were classic), Ripper Collins, Handsome Johnny Barend and quite a few others definitely belonged in this group.
The ugly were, well, just plain ugly. (I won’t mention any names, they may still have relatives here. This IS Kauai after all.)
Kauai audiences absolutely loved wrestling. And actually, I did too. In fact, you might say I was a teen-age wrestling fanatic. And yes, I was at those matches and yes, they were exciting.
At one of the matches, I met several of the wrestling “stars” including 7’2 Giant Baba (Shoji Baba from Japan, who had the biggest hands I have ever seen).
Sometimes there would be women wrestling and those matches sure looked vicious at times. Midget wrestling was also always a popular draw.
Matches would sometimes got so heated, though, that hefty Kauai fans in the audience (angered when the “bad guys” ganged up on their favorite wrestler), would slowly make their way down from their bleacher seats to the floor and head for the ring.
Fortunately, security guards and police usually grabbed them before they could do anything beyond throwing soda cans into the ring.
My favorite wrestler back then was Chief Billy Whitewolf. He was my “hero” and held that status until I finally “outgrew” wrestling and stopped following it.
A short while ago, though, I discovered that my “hero” was not all he seemed to be.
Looking for pictures online, I found out that Whitewolf was neither a chief nor an Indian but actually an Iraqi named Adnan Al-Kaissey.
What’s more, he and Saddam Hussein were high school classmates and friends and after leaving Hawaii, Adnan returned to Iraq to introduce wrestling there.
But as his popularity increased, apparently, Hussein, who was by then leader of his country, and paranoid about potential rivals saw Kaissey as a threat.
Kaissey fled back to the US and never returned,
Finding this out still boggles my mind.
We need to remember that wrestling in Hawaii back then was in a class of its own and nothing like KIF wrestling is today. It was sheer entertainment that filled a niche and satisfied hundreds of fans until it ended in 1979.
With so many possible KIF sports to choose from today, I couldn’t help but wonder: “Why wrestling?” what does this sport do for and mean to our young KIF athletes?
Justin Ruiz, a two-time NCAA All American for the University of Nebraska, six-time World Team member, and a World Bronze Medalist, explained it perfectly, I thought.
Currently an assistant coach at Utah Valley University, Ruiz is also co-founder, partner and wrestling coach at Fortius Wrestling Club, which trains and coaches elementary, junior high and high school athletes.
In his piece, “10 Reasons Why Kids Should Wrestle,” Ruiz says that wrestling not only develops basic athletic skills, personal responsibility, mental toughness and discipline, it teaches individual athletes how to focus on something and master it.
It also brings kids together and builds a strong camaraderie, and can also bring different cultures and countries together, Ruiz said in his piece.
Wrestling can also provide opportunities to further education in colleges and junior colleges.
Ruiz’ last reason summed it all up: Wrestling is fun!
Good luck to all young wrestlers on Kauai and elsewhere. Make us proud!
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Rita De Silva is former editor of The Garden Island and a Kapaa resident.
