Kauai High wrestlers earn $5,000 scholarships for college plans
Two Kaua‘i High co-captains each got $5,000 for college, part of a wrestling scholarship effort that has now reached $30,000 total.
Two Kaua‘i High School wrestlers left with more than a plaque and a handshake. Jayden Gonzales and Trenton Tanigawa each received a $5,000 scholarship that can help cover the real cost of post-high school training, from tuition and books to transportation and the first steps into a trade or degree program.
The awards were presented by Princeville resident Tommy Thompson in memory of his late wife, Penny Lee, who died in 2021. Thompson has now funded six scholarships through the wrestling effort, totaling $30,000. For Kaua‘i families balancing college bills against rent, gas and island travel, that kind of support can determine whether a student-athlete stays on track after graduation.
Gonzales, a Kaua‘i High co-captain who has wrestled for three years, plans to attend Kaua‘i Community College for an automotive certificate before moving into the operators union. He wants to become a heavy equipment operator on Kaua‘i or O‘ahu and said he intends to keep working with the Kaua‘i High wrestling program. The scholarship gives him a practical bridge from high school mats to a career path that can keep him working close to home.
Tanigawa, also a co-captain, wrestled for three years at 215 and 285 pounds and became Kaua‘i High’s first state placer since 2003. He finished with a 3.93 GPA, placed third in the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation as a sophomore, second as a junior and first as a senior, then went on to place fifth at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state meet. Tanigawa plans to attend Linfield University, major in engineering and continue with Division III football and wrestling.
Coach Julian Saldana said the West Point Association of Graduates Hawai‘i awards fit into a larger effort to push Kaua‘i students toward continuing education after high school. He said the scholarships are similar to three Gen. Shinseki awards presented earlier that week at Duke’s Kauai, and noted that similar programs are also sponsored by the Army West Point Wrestling group and the 1965 “Strength and Drive” West Point class alumni. Kaua‘i High, founded in 1914 and part of the HHSAA since 1956, keeps producing athletes who can turn local recognition into a next step, but the demand for that kind of support remains clear.
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