I am Paris Kekua, class of 2024, and I joined the Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama wrestling team in my senior year of high school. I learned the inner workings of wrestling, how our school handles the wrestling team, and how wrestling impacts my life.
Single leg, arm bar, half nelson, high crotch, ball and chain, whizzer, tilts, and leg rides are all some of the terms I learned over four months of wrestling. I joined this enthralling sport my senior year of high school because my senior friend joined. Rigorous is the least of it. The sport’s title is the equivalent to saying the name of which cannot be spoken aloud. Everyone is in awe if you say you are on the wrestling team because anyone who knows sports, knows that wrestling is a different breed of competitive, physical activity.
At Kamehameha Schools-Kapālama, the coaches focus on working as a team. In practice, we drill in partners, wrestle live in groups of four, and strengthen our cardiovascular endurance by cheering each other on. Imagine running for 6 minutes with 30+ 14–18-year-olds in a 20-foot circle with a coach yelling out “Do not show that you’re tired!” After every practice, our head coach pep tells us about what to prioritize, focus on, and look towards using various analogies and always reiterating that we win as a team.
I have experienced cutting weight and testing my body’s limits; competing and cheering on the sidelines. Being in wrestling has taught me body awareness; how much water do I need to drink to stay hydrated, how much food can I be without and still be functional, how many days I can go without being at practice and still be in shape, etc. I have made friends that I would never have thought I would meet before I left high school, and fellow seniors whom I never knew had this competitive side to them. The reason I was drawn to the sport was because of the environment. I have always been a heavy sweater ever since elementary school and I would always be disappointed I was the only one like me. I have found a place where I can physically be myself, where I am just like everyone else. Through wrestling, I have learned more about my family: my aunty had been a wrestler in high school and went to states. Now, I relate to her a little bit more through the sport, for if it weren’t for being a wrestler, I never would have known that side of her.
All in all, wrestling was a great experience that I am glad I tried it out for a season.
