For the 15th consecutive year the Hawaii Wrestling Officials Associated hosted its annual scholarship tournament over two days at Leilehua's Paul T. Kobayashi Gymnasium.

Nearly 500 wrestlers participated in the event, which saw a total of 899 contested bouts between Friday and Saturday.

The tournament, which regularly draws competitors from all five of the state's leagues, has taken place since 2000, according to HWOA head official Stan Ono.

"The first few years we had moved the tournament around from Punahou to Radford to Moanalua, but we didn't have the consistency in date availability from the gyms," Ono said.

Ono credited Leilehua athletic director James Toyota for helping to find the tournament a more permanent home.

"From 2005 to the present we've been at Leilehua," Ono said. "Thankfully (Toyota) said that as long as he's athletic director, we can have the gym on the dates that we need every year."

Ono said the relationship has been mutually beneficial for both parties. The school's gain is largely financial, thanks to a hard-working concession staff behind the scenes.

"I'm sure that it's a very big moneymaker for them," Ono said.

The tournament — which is often referred to as "Officials" by both coaches and wrestlers — is widely considered the premiere preseason tournament in the state and a sneak peek of February's state tournament.

"Because of the high-intensity atmosphere and the high caliber of wrestlers here, we try to bring neighbor island refs here, but they can only stay one day," Ono said. "They can't stay overnight because they're paying their own way here."

In past years, proceeds from tournament entires were around $5,000, which is dispersed into scholarships for team scorekeepers and managers.

"It's a way to reward the scorekeepers and managers because wrestlers can earn scholarships, but they cannot," Ono said. "We felt it was important to recognize these people because as officials we rely heavily on them while we're on the mat."

Ono said that $2,500 in scholarships were awarded last year. More than $35,000 has been given out since the tournament's inception.

"We'd like to give out three to four $1,500 scholarships, but truthfully the past few years only one to two people have applied," Ono said. "We wish we could give out more, but there hasn't been a lot of interest."

Monies from the entry fees also go toward covering the costs of the awards, which HWOA also supplies.

For more information on the scholarships or the HWOA, contact Ono at 808-753-3968 or e-mail him at [email protected].