Every ‘Iolani staff, student, or alumni will repeatedly tell you about the “One Team” spirit to the point of disgust, but the ‘Iolani wrestling program actually lives it.
As the season neared its end on the 22nd of February, the spirit of ‘Iolani wrestling was in full prevalence, shining through in moments like coming together as a coherent unit in prayer circles before and after practices to the energetic fire of teammates cheering for each other at matches. “One Team is not just something that you put on t-shirts and walls and yell,” Head Coach Walden “Waldo” Au ’03 said. “It’s something that I hope as a coach [the ‘Iolani wrestlers] really take to heart.” Seven ‘Iolani wrestlers went on to compete in states, with a few taking the podium for their respective weight classes.
Although wrestling is unique in that it is an individual sport, ‘Iolani wrestlers are still very much connected to one another. Coach Waldo remarks, “One thing that I really think is important in wrestling is that as an individual sport, we train together, we work together, but at the end of the day, it’s just two people on the mat.”
To an outside observer, this individuality may seem like it could cause division or a sense of disconnect amongst the team members, but coaches and wrestlers of the program argue the opposite: the independence of wrestling helps grow a sense of humility and self-accountability in many ‘Iolani wrestlers.
Star wrestler Johann Machida ’26, who is a two-time ILH champ and placed third at states twice, remarks, “Even though in wrestling, people think of it as an individual sport where it’s one person versus one person on the mat, it really takes a group of people to help that one person grow.” Training together helps both the individual and the team, he says. “Because if that one person just trains on his own, doesn’t have any guidance, doesn’t have any partners to help him get better, he’s not really going to progress as far as a person who has really welcoming coaches who help him with what he needs to do.”
The wrestling staff have wholeheartedly embraced the “One Team” philosophy in their unique approach to coaching. “[Here at wrestling], we really try to build this culture of family and sharing responsibility,” Coach Waldo says. “We really hope that through this experience, all of our student athletes will become good teammates but more importantly, one day become good leaders as well.” This means that there is no seniority system like many other schools and sports have, where age or certain rankings can mean certain athletes have more power than others.
Instead, the opposite occurs at ‘Iolani wrestling. Upholding the “One Team” spirit means that everyone is given equal opportunities, regardless of grade or experience, to grow their skills, take on challenges, and compete in matches.
Even the starting lineup is decided purely on merit; coaches use wrestle-offs, or competitions between two wrestlers before matches, to determine who is best fit to compete. The players seem to appreciate this purely skill-based format: sophomore Dre Yasunaga ’27 says, “I think it’s a good choice to find the best wrestler, but sometimes you won’t always wrestle your best, so it’s kind of scary.”
“It can lead to some challenging things, like if a returning wrestler doesn’t get a starting spot. But in all honesty, really that’s what life is about. You might say it’s not fair, but to me, that’s actually the most fair something can be,” Coach Waldo asserts.
With the season ending, individual wrestlers have many different goals. While some are trying to make starting lineups and individually improve, others, like Machida, are looking to claim state titles.
Coach Waldo said, “Personally, we’d love to see championships and metals and tangible things. But really, at the end of the day, [what’s even more important is that] we’re gonna have some kids that are going to surprise people and have grown over the season, learned and matured. And I think that’s something that’s super great to watch.”
