The Black and Gold 1976
Since the past season, the McKinley Wrestling Team began to look forward with great anticipation toward a promising 1976 year. Starting with an experienced group of returnees, the Tiger matmen set out in pursuit of the highly regarded OIA championship.
As expected, the potential of this team began taking form during preseason scrimmages against Interscholastic League of Honolulu (ILH) adversaries St. Louis and Iolani and Maui High School.
Led by tri-captains Bruce Kishimoto, Fred Pfund and Mark Chinen, the grapplers quickly established themselves by dominating over Waipahu and outlasting league contender in a wrestling thriller over Kalani. McKinley then continued on as they devastated their next five opponents Campbell, Waialua, Kailua, Kaimuki and Kahuku by outscoring them by an average of 52 points. However, their winning rampage ended in the long awaited match against a strong Radford team which proved to be their most formidable bout. Despite this loss, the matmen continued to overcome the remaining four matches in the season, still in contention for the crown.
As the wrestlers entered the OIA tournament, untimely injuries and upsets of team favorites dropped the Tigers from first to second place in the overall team standings. The year concluded with a 10-1 win-loss record, 12 placing in the top eight berths of the OIA and many entering the state tourney.
McKinley High School Class of 1977
40th Reunion Summer 2017
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