Kinnick takes second at Far East wrestling tournament

Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | The Kinnick High School wrestling team accepts their second place award during Far East at the award assembly held at Kinnick gym. Kinnick won second for both the individual and duals tournaments.  

YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JAPAN

02.20.2013

Courtesy Story

Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka

YOKOSUKA, Japan – Nile C. Kinnick High School on board Fleet Activities, Yokosuka hosted the Far East wrestling tournament held at George I. Purdy Fitness Center from Feb. 18 - 21.

There were two tournaments during the event, individual and duals. Kinnick received second place for both, scoring 77 points for individual and 26 for duals. Kubasaki High School from Okinawa, Japan won first place for each tournament, scoring 78 points for individual and 32 for duals.

“I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” said Gary Wilson, one of the wrestling coaches for Kinnick. “Everyone’s gotten better.”

Kinnick wrestlers trained long and hard for this competition and it paid off.

Upperclassmen Ian O’Brien, Dustin Wilson and Alex Banks received second place in their weight class. O’Brien and Wilson defeated wrestlers who they lost to in a past tournament. O’Brien previously lost to former Kinnick student Aaron Stravers at Beast of the East tournament.

O’Brien and Stravers faced each other again during the second day of the Far East tournament with O’Brien coming out on top. The match was long with no one getting the pin. O’Brien had only a few more points in the end.

“It was a bitter sweet moment for me because I got the victory in the end,” said O’Brien after his match. “Then of course, he was my friend and my old teammate.”

Wilson had said he was only worried about his match against a wrestler from St. Mary’s, a local Japanese high school, that he had lost to in a previous match. Wilson’s match against this wrestler was also lengthy, but Wilson triumphed.

“It was nice to beat him and make my way to the championship,” Wilson said about his win. “I felt proud of myself, I was happy but then again I still think I could have done better, ended it quicker.”

Banks came in being the favorite for his weight class. He is one of the captains and had much to say about his team after the tournament was over.

“I guess we’re really surprised on how far we could actually pull,” said Banks. “We really hoped to achieve first but we couldn’t this year, but the team now seeing that they could go to this far, there’s a possibility they could achieve first [place] next year. Let’s go Kinnick!”

The Far East tournament is an annual week-long event. All the Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Japan, Korea, and Guam compete along with local Japanese schools in a variety of different categories including sports, art, academics and performing arts. This is the second year in a row Kinnick hosted the event.

• Date Taken: 02.20.2013
• Date Posted: 03.12.2013 03:38
• Story ID: 103303
• Location: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP