February 3-5, 2025 / Yano Fitness Center, Camp Zama
Photo Credit: Sandie Jones
As the 2025 Far East Wrestling Tournament concluded with a 29-28 victory for St. Mary’s over Kinnick in the dual meet finals, the St. Mary’s Titans added the 20th Far East title for the school; a realm only the Kubasaki Dragons have reached before (with 27 titles in total). The nail-biting victory also marked the 10th Far East championship title for Coach Yabui in his 12th season with the Titans since he took the reins of the St. Mary’s wrestling program in the 2013-14 season. The winningest coach in Far East Division 1 Wrestling is Jeff Pellaton of Kubasaki with 13 Far East titles; no other coach had won over 10 until now. Coach Yabui surpassed Pellaton’s Far East dual title record of 4 titles with his 5th dual meet title. While these records seem glamorous, the path up until February 5th was certainly not.
“It was the hardest, most devastating, struggling season,” commented Coach Yabui, “there were many times I just wanted to give up.”
A Year to Win Everything
The Titans had three defending 2-time Far East champions returning on the team: Hugo M. at 114lb, Nathaniel T. at 152lb, and Roman L. at 189lb. On top of that the team had Far East silver medalist Luke S. and bronze medalist Luke Y. at 127lb and 172lb respectively returning as seniors. As the season progressed, Titans seemed to be invincible from 152lb and above with Nathaniel, Kabilan B., also senior at 160lb, Luke Y., And Roman. L. remained undefeated during the regular season against Far East competition, and Jimin K. at 215lb marked consistent victories throughout the season all except one opponent from Kinnick.
“When you’re bringing back three 2-time Far East champs and four Far East placers, you expect to win; it’s your year to rack up titles,” explained Coach Yabui, “but I was wrong.”
The season started as expected with the Titans winning over CAJ and Kinnick in the Kanto league dual meets in November and December. And, it had seemed the Titans were right on track to perhaps the most dominating season next to the legendary 2016 season.
The Cursed Season
But, 114lb, 2-time defending Far East champion, Hugo M. suffered a painful rib injury in the dual meet against Kinnick and was sidelined from the varsity lineup. Without a replacement, the Titans placed 2nd overall at the next CAJ invitationals; a tournament which they typically win. The season carried on as usual with the team travelling and testing themselves at the Rumble on the Rock in Okinawa to get a preview of what the two defending Far East champion teams – Kubasaki and Kadena – had and entered Christmas break with the annual Spatola winter camp and holiday practices.
After the Christmas break, St. Mary’s for the first time in history, hosted the Beast of the East, hosting 16 other schools in the Far East; essentially making it the largest tournament of the season. Hugo had not returned to the team yet. The team yet again, finished second behind Kadena with only a 6 point gap; a gap which Hugo’s presence could have easily filled.
“I told the team not to be discouraged; as soon as we have Hugo back, we’re going to start winning titles,” Coach Yabui said, “but I was wrong… again.”
After the Beast of the East tournament, it was as if the team was cursed. 4 varsity wrestlers and 4 JV wrestlers became ill one after the other. St. Mary’s had to compete against ASIJ in a league championship determining dual with 3 varsity wrestlers missing, which they lost 28-23. There was also some skin infection going around the team; rendering them to cancel practices for about a week. Then, they competed in the Kanto Finals with 1 varsity wrestler missing and another falling ill on the day, and once again, they placed second. Since December 4, St. Mary’s was not able to put out their mighty lineup they had.
“We have had sicknesses of all sorts every season, but never to this extent and length; it was very frustrating and depressing,” reflected Coach Yabui on his first experience of not winning any tournament or league title in the regular season.
The Last Chance – 1 point, just 1…
At the Far East, although Hugo was back, they had to replace Jed. S. at 133lb due to last minute injury with Ty R., a rookie, and as always, missing 285lb. But, upon looking at the Far East brackets, Coach Yabui felt the team had a good chance of winning… but, he was wrong… once again.
“It was ours to lose, and we even had a chance to win it by far, but that’s when upsets happen,” recalled Coach Yabui “and we let it slip out of our hands.”
The biggest upset happened at 172lb with Luke Y., who was simply invincible throughout the season. With his signature blast double legs and lightning quick leg lace transitions, no wrestler came close to keeping the pace with Luke. In his opening round against ASIJ, as usual, he was dominating his opponent. However, Luke made a slip second mistake to stop wrestling when the opponent’s headgear fell off and was tossed to his back to be pinned. 114lb, Hugo M., managed to defeat the #1 ranked wrestler from Kinnick in the second round but got flipped from a pinning position to a pinned position in his semi-finals match against the eventual champion from Edgren. Hugo also suffered a loss in the consolations against Kubasaki to be sent for the 5/6th place match. Ponnappa K. 107lb and Kent. W. 145lb were one match away from placing.
For a pleasant surprise, rookie, Ty. R at 133lb managed to win two matches in a row to advance to the semi-finals. Though he lost against the eventual silver medalist from CAJ, he stayed “alive” in the tournament to secure a team point at 6th place.
“We never expect rookies to place and we were very proud and happy with the way Ty made weight and competed despite the last minute change up less than a week before Far East,” complimented Coach Yabui of the rising rookie star.
St. Mary’s still managed to put 3 wrestlers – Nathaniel, Roman, and Jimin L, 215lb – in the finals. ASIJ put 5 in the finals and now the tables had turned and it was ASIJ to lose. In order for St. Mary’s to win, all their finalists had to win and 2 of ASIJ’s finalists had to lose.
Nathaniel T. 152lb put on one last calm yet dominating performance; catching his Kinnick rival with a cow catcher to pin his 3rd Far East title. Nathaniel’s wrestling style has been to catch his opponent’s with their mistakes rather than initiating offense. His final match was extremely efficient and smart. With a huge relieved look and little tears in his eyes, the captain of the Titans the 6th 3-time Far East champion for St. Mary’s undefeated in the season. Coach Yabui explained Nathaniel’s high wrestling IQ, talent, work ethic, mat sense, power and endurance were all unprecedented. Nathaniel is still a third year wrestler as he began wrestling post COVID. He has also been wrestling under weight this season. He is actually a 145lb wrestler but wrestling at 152lb for the team. ASIJ had a wrestler with 8 years of wrestling experience from the States transferring this season at 152lb. Nathaniel, despite his lack of years compared to the ASIJ wrestler, has beaten him easily 4 times this season. At the Far East, the ASIJ wrestler dropped down to 145lb and won the tournament defeating a 2-time defending Far East champion from Kadena. This shows the exceptional level of Nathaniel.
“Nathaniel is a prodigy; he is so special so we made sure he worked extra hard and it was fun watch his dynamic growth in this sport” commented Coach Yabui. “And like all prodigies, we know he was under a lot of pressure to win and not lose; we’re proud, relieved, and happy for him.”
189lb, Roman L. was simply outstanding throughout the season. He literally tossed people around. With his strength, speed, and technique, he remained undefeated. It was rare if anyone scored on him. If his opponents wrestled him low on the legs, Roman would secure a leg and quickly transition into a deadly leg lace that no one can get out of. If his opponents wanted to wrestle him upper body, Roman would pick them up and pin them. It all seemed too easy for Roman at the Far East tournament as he, along with Nathaniel, was crowned a 3-time Far East champion.
“St. Mary’s has traditionally been at a disadvantage at the heavier weight classes, but to have someone so dominating and consistent as Roman waiting at 189lb, was a game changer,” praised Coach Yabui. “A coach would be blessed to have even one 3-time champ, we’ve got two this year.”
215lb, junior, Jim K.’s finals was no stranger. He and his Kinnick rival have wrestled 10 times since last season with a record of 2 wins and 8 losses for Jimin. All odds were against him. The Kinnick rival is bigger, stronger, and more technical on the feet. Jimin’s strength was in his endless stamina and conditioning.
“Jimin, as big as he is, works faster and harder than anyone on the team,” commented Coach Yabui, “he can wrestle a 60 minute match if he had to.”
Jimin had been showing great determination in defeating his rival on the biggest stage and proving tremendous improvement throughout the season to getting closer and closer to beating him. And, at last, it was Jimin’s turn. From a scrambling step out point and a passivity point, Jimin was up 2-0. In desperation to score, the Kinnick opponent tried a headlock for one last chance in turning the match around but Jimin, with a ton of energy and focus left, easily dodged the throw and turning it into his 2 point takedown. With a 4-0 lead, it was simply a matter of counting down towards a major upset victory. The crowd went wild and his teammates and coaches were yelling and jumping in excitement. Jimin let out a howl and immediately went to his rival, shook his hand and gave a hug of respect.
As epic and exciting Jimin’s finals were, 4 ASIJ wrestlers ended up winning the tournament in their respective weight classes, giving ASIJ 63 teams points and St. Mary’s a devastating 62 team points. ASIJ put an end to their 30 year title drought and won their 5th Far East title for the school. The last time ASIJ won was in 1995 under Coach John Hohenthaner, former St. Mary’s wrestling coach in the 80s. Coach Honethaner won 1 Far East title for St. Mary’s and 4 for ASIJ; his accomplishments were profound in the Far East and ASIJ named their wrestling room after him.
The Last, Last Chance – 1 point, just 1…
As the finals on Day 2 finished, Coach Yabui called the team outside of the Yano Fitness Center. Coach Yabui congratulated the 3 champions and then told the team they had lost by 1 point. The team could not hide their disappointment. Coach Yabui told them that the dual meet tournament is a whole different story. “Upsets happen in the dual tournament. It’s a clean slate. This is a title you need to win back. You all need to wrestle the most aggressive match, stay consistently on offense, and stay off your backs.”
In the first round, St. Mary’s defeated Seoul Foreign, a relatively new program in the Far East, 55-5, winning all bouts contested. The fate of the team was to be decided on the final day against the defending Far East dual champion and 2025 Beast of the East champion, Kadena, in the semi-finals.
That evening Coach Yabui recalls it being a rough night. From a team that was supposed to win it all to winning nothing until this point; pressure to get results continued to build up throughout the season the more they didn’t get results.
“It’s not about winning or losing and I know everything’s ok as long as the wrestlers do their best,” said Coach Yabui, “but I know how hard these guys work and to be denied so many chances to get the results they deserve due to circumstances we had no control over was just devastating and I felt terrible for the kids; they’re giving it their best and they’re not winning, I really felt like I was letting them down.”
The next day, however, Coach Yabui knew that he couldn’t show that weakness to his wrestlers. He gathered up his team once again and gave them one last pep talk.
“The boys are physically and mentally ready; they’ve been trained for this exact purpose, all we had to do was believe in them,” recalled Coach Yabui.
In the semi-finals against Kadena, the dual opened up with Ponnappa K. getting pinned by Kadena’s silver medalist, but Hugo at 114lb, changed the mood by defeating another silver medalist; showing his skills as a 2-time Far East champion. Ryan M. 121lb wrestled hard but lost by technical superiority. Senior, Luke S. turned the tide around by securing a valuable pin from his signature fireman’s carry. After losing 133lb, 139lb, and 145lb against more experienced wrestlers from Kadena, it was up to the “big 5” (Nathaniel, Kabilan, Luke S., Roman, and Jimin, as Coach Yabui calls them) from 152lb and above. It was an unusual season where St. Mary’s strength came from the upper weight classes. Often times, the team was losing up till this point but was able to trump the match from here on above.
However, Nathaniel, unexpectedly suffered a 4 point takedown against an opponent he has easily beaten before. His opponent wrestled a hard fought match. Nathaniel eventually won but the initial 4 point deficit proved to be too much to overturn and finished with a victory by decision 12-4.
“That match was huge for Kadena; we expected it to be a technical fall (4 points for the team) or a pin (5 points for the team), but the Kadena wrestler fought hard to keep it a decision deficit (3 points),” explained Coach Yabui. “My calculation was that we would win the “big 5” all by technical superiority to win the dual, so one of the 160, 172, 189, and 215 matches now had to be a win by pin, but as strong as these guys were, none of them were ‘pinners’ and it had to take a little bit of a miracle.”
Senior, Kabilan B. 160lb made the miracle happen. He went out there with great spirit for the team to stick his opponent on his back for the pin that the Titans needed. Luke Y. easily, as always, won by technical superiority. Roman 189lb secured a pin as well, reducing the pressure on 215lb Jimin to simply win by decision or higher. Jimin ended up leg lacing the opponent for a technical superiority to close the dual with a 29-28, 1 point difference victory.
Now the stage was set. ASIJ was defeated by Kinnick who beat Kubasaki in the first round, making the finals Kinnick, 2025 Kanto Finals champions, against St. Mary’s. At 107lb, St. Mary’s secured a valuable forfeit victory. The wing matches were at 114lb and 121lb. While Hugo and Ryan both were projected to win, their opponents weren’t easy. At 114lb, Hugo was down by a point with 10 seconds left in the match. Hugo took a single leg shot and before time was up, successfully went behind his opponent for a last minute takedown to win the match! …. so, everyone thought… Hugo pumped his arms up for the victory, his Kinnick opponent thew down his headgear in regret, the St. Mary’s coaching staff were celebrating the victory, Kinnick’s coaching staff were disappointed, the referee raised Hugo’s hand…. and, that’s when the main official, signaled that the winner was Kinnick not St. Mary’s as Kinnick had a 2 point back exposure in the last exchange and so Hugo’s takedown was only worth 1 point for the reversal. The match result was reversed and St. Mary’s lost a crucial match. 121lb, Ryan went out with full aggression and was leading the match until he got caught in a cement mixer to suffer a painful pin. St. Mary’s lost 2 of their crucial swing matches. Luke S. confidently secured a pin at 127lb but Kinnick was still favored to win on paper.
“There were thoughts in my mind that we would lose this one, honestly,” recalled Coach Yabui, “in my experience, it would take a miracle to turn this kind of flow around.”
Ty, Max, and Kent, all wrestled hard to stay off their backs and lost by technical superiority, which Coach Yabui commented that they were “crucial”.
Now, it was time for the “big 5” but they were up to a huge challenge. Roman at 189lb had a forfeit, but even then, with 215lb, Jimin going against his Kinnick rival, the chances of the team winning was very slim. Either 152lb, 160lb, 172lb, and 215lb all had to win or 152lb-172lb had to win at least 2 by pin and 1 by technical fall and 215lb lose with no more than a decision loss. Despite Jimin beating his Kinnick opponent the day before in the finals, their records were still 3 wins 8 losses and the Kinnick opponent was favored. Nathaniel first went out and won by technical superiority, fulfilling his minimum duty, but not a pin; lowering the chances of St. Mary’s pulling off a miracle.
Kabilan B., went out and secured a technical superiority victory. But, the Titans had to take a chance. “The match at 215lb could go either way but given the statistics, I had to make a tough choice,” recalls Coach Yabui, as he approached Kabilan to ask him whether he felt confident to continue the match and pin his opponent (a special continuation rule only used in dual meets to continue the match after a technical superiority victory with the time remaining). Kabilan, without hesitation, replied with a “yes”.
Coach Yabui indicated to the referee the will to continue the match. Continuation of a match is a risky tactic because, in the worst case, you could lose the technical superiority victory point (4 points) if the opponent starts to score or even lose the match if the opponent pins your wrestler. It’s a gamble. As soon as the whistle blew again, Kabilan went for an over-under position and hit an inside trip straight to the opponent’s back and pinned. St. Mary’s coaching staff and wrestlers went wild for the courageous action and ideal victory by Kabilan. The match reinvigorated the team, but there were still challenges ahead.
Now, Luke Y. had to go for a pin. After an easy takedown, instead of going straight to a leg lace as he always does, Luke went to secure an arm bar. He failed his first attempt to pin the opponent. They get up, and Luke gets thrown by an arm throw for 4 points. Kinnick’s side is now going wild. Luke gets up without losing any composure and quickly blast doubles the opponent again. He secures the arm bar, but this time, hops over and runs it away from the head. The opponent’s arm is twisted from resisting the pin. Luke continues to gradually turn the opponent over until finally, the opponent’s hips turn over to the ceiling with Luke covering on top. The referee raises his hand to signal the pin and slams the mat for the pin. What a miraculous performance by Kabilan and Luke to keep the dual alive!
With 189lb a forfeit win for St. Mary’s and the 285lb a forfeit win for Kinnick, the score was now 29-25 for St. Mary’s with the epic showdown at 215lb left. All Jimin K. had to do was not lose by pin or technical fall. As soon as the match started it was war. Jimin moving as swiftly as possible and hand fighting hard to prevent the opponent from getting the tie up he wants, and the Kinnick wrestler desperately trying to get a hold of Jimin to throw him. The Kinnick wrestler was aggressive as ever and scored two 2-point leg attack takedown to lead by 4 points. In the second period, Coach Yabui gave instructions to Jimin to be 100% on defense. “It’s really not what you want to tell your wrestler but in a dual, sometimes these tough decisions had to be made; it would suck for Jimin to lose but he won yesterday and he is the Far East champion, and right now we needed him to wrestle for the team and we had no doubt Jimin would do that for us,” explained Coach Yabui of his decision. Jimin was called for passivity to be behind 5-0. His rival was desperate; chasing Jimin and holding his arms and head and trying to get anything to throw with Jimin dodging every single attempt. Kinnick finally got a hold of Jimin’s head for one last headlock opportunity with Jimin falling down with him, but barely staying off his back and pulled his head out to go behind for 2 points on the opponent’s failed throw. With 5 seconds to go, Jimin attempted a leg lace to kill time. “5, 4, 3, 2…..1” and the towel to signal the end of the match was thrown, making a big arch in the air with St. Mary’s wrestlers and coaches yelling with their fists up in the air in joy!
29-28, again. 1 point… just 1 point… St. Mary’s won their 20th Far East title in Zama with two tight, nail-biting, miraculous victories against Kadena and Kinnick. Coach Yabui and Assistant Coach Matsumoto’s eyes were tearing up. Wrestlers were hugging and jumping on one another. Parent supporters were yelling in joy, taking pictures of the precious moment with their phones. Assistant coaches Grimberg and Brummer congratulated Coach Yabui and Coach Yabui gave them a silent but firm hand shake. Then, Coach Yabui, sat quietly on the mat on his knees.
“It was just relief. Pure relief. Escaping the worst nightmare of losing everything this season with such a great team. Just proud of how these guys overcame numerous challenges throughout the season, never giving up till the very end. So thankful and proud of our seniors. It was a struggle but I was so relieved we won in the end,” commented Coach Yabui.
1 point… just 1 point… this 1 point could be the result of one match, a few sequences in a match, 1 point in a match, the sheer will to want to win it more than the other wrestler, the grit to fight for 1 more second, simple luck, and the right wrestlers being at the right place at the right time. 1 point is the difference between the winner and the loser. St. Mary’s experienced it both ways. While the turnout of the season was unexpected, St. Mary’s endured a long season of hardship and learned from the opportunity. Now that St. Mary’s has joined Kubasaki in the “20 club”, will they be able to dethrone the Dragons in their sole dominance in Far East wrestling? “It won’t be soon, but we’re going to keep working towards it,” said Coach Yabui.
2025 Far East Individual Results:
114lb – Hugo M. 5th Place
121lb – Ryan M. 4th Place
127lb – Luke S. 3rd Place
133lb – Ty R. 6th Place
152lb – Nathaniel T. 1st Place
160lb – Kabilan B. 5th Place
172lb – Luke Y. 3rd Place
189lb – Roman L. 1st Place
215lb – Jimin K. 1st Place
2025 Far East Team Placement:
1) ASIJ 63 points
2) St. Mary’s 62 points
3) Kadena 56 points
4) Kubasaki 53 points
5) Kinnick 51 points
6) CAJ 45 points
2025 Far East Dual Results:
First Round
St. Mary’s 55 – Seoul Foreign 5
Semi-Finals
St. Mary’s 29 – Kadena 28
Finals
St. Mary’s 29 – Kinnick 28
D1 Far East Titles Record:
1) Kubasaki 27 titles
2) St. Mary’s 20 titles
3) Kinnick 11 titles
4) Kadena 7 titles
5) ASIJ 5 titles
6) Seoul American 3 titles
D1 Far East Coaching Record:
(1) Jeff Pellaton (Kubasaki) 13 titles
(2) Shu Yabui (St. Mary’s) 10 titles
(3) Steve Schrock (Kadena) 6 titles
(4) Gary Wilson (Kinnick) 5 titles
John Hohenthaner (St. Mary’s/ASIJ) 5 titles
(5) Ian Harlow (St. Mary’s) 4 titles
James Feller (Kinnick/Kubasaki) 4 titles
(6) Brent Cook (Kubasaki) 3 titles
Edward Paradis (St. Mary’s) 3 titles
Jon Rhodes (St. Mary’s) 3 titles
Julian Harden (Seoul American) 3 titles
Scott Smith (Kinnick) 3 titles
Terry Chumley (Kubasaki) 3 titles
(7) Bruce Derr (Zama) 2 titles
John Leinard (Kinnick) 2 titles
Ronald Geist (Kubasaki) 2 titles