PRINCEVILLE — Kaua‘i High School wrestler Thomas Ramos was recently presented with a $5,000 Thomas David “Tommy” Thompson Scholarship award for best exemplifying aptitude in wrestling, academics and team leadership, as judged by coaches, mentors, and contemporaries.
PRINCEVILLE — Kaua‘i High School wrestler Thomas Ramos was recently presented with a $5,000 Thomas David “Tommy” Thompson Scholarship award for best exemplifying aptitude in wrestling, academics and team leadership, as judged by coaches, mentors, and contemporaries.
The award was made by Tommy Thompson, who has been living in Princeville for 24 years after retiring from the Department of Defense as an Air Force officer and civilian engineer, and contracting officer in the aerospace industry.
“I was selected for the same honor in 1961 at my high school in Pennsylvania, and I believe it is very special for Thomas Ramos as well,” Thompson said in an email. “He should be recognized. I gave him my 60-plus year old trophy with a new insert.”
Thompson said he was motivated by his friend retired general Eric “Ric” Shinseki to present the scholarship.
“As a former junior, high school, and collegiate wrestler, I have noted the developing wrestling programs in Hawai‘i and wished to aid in their development,” he said. “Inspired by my 1965 West Point classmate and friend, four-star General Army Chief of Staff, Kaua‘i native, and Kaua‘i High School graduate Eric ‘Ric’ Shinseki, I decided to gift a scholarship to his school.”
He also talked about the impact wrestling made on him.
“Coming from a power wrestling city and high school in Pennsylvania, the character building and skills I learned as a young boy contributed greatly to my education opportunities and any successes I had in life,” said Thompson, who was inducted into the Northeast Chapter of the Pennsylvania State Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 for his wrestling and all-around sports success in his lifetime.
“Inspired by a cousin who was the first in our family to go to college as well as an Olympian, he began my training as a 7-year-old, and I won my first tournament in the 45-55 pound class that year.”
He wishes Thomas Ramos congratulations on being selected as Kaua‘i High School’s Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2022-23 and future success at Grand Canyon University.
