Retirement? Nah, Maui teacher and coach Kevin Grant wins national wrestling title

At 59 years old, many men might begin thinking about retirement and savoring their twilight years. Not Kevin Grant.

Taking his own path, the ʻĪao Intermediate School teacher has discovered his fountain of youth in his passion for wrestling and trying to keep up in his physical training while coaching energetic intermediate and high school athletes, all with a dose of aches and pains and a sense of humor.

“These kids keep me young on some days; then make me feel really old on other days,” he said.

His reward? Aside from good health and trim physique that’s the envy of many men half his age, Grant won a freestyle wrestling championship in the US Nationals Masters Division E (58kg) on April 26 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Competing on the Maui Style Wrestling Team, Grant took the gold medal in a comeback victory over arch-rival Daniel Cota of the Mad Cow Wrestling Club. A day earlier, Grant earned the silver medal in Greco Roman wrestling, finishing second to Cota.

Grant’s coach, Grant Nakamura of MTS-Nakamura Wrestling, said Grant turned in “an amazing performance,” especially considering that he hadn’t competed for more than 40 years.

Grant recalled the finals match against Cota as being a “big challenge due to some poor execution and close calls.”

“I was behind early by a score of 9-1,” he said. “But I just refocused immediately and concentrated everything on just scoring the next set of points. I scored a 4-point throw, then Coach Nakamura helped me make adjustments throughout the rest of the match, to keep scoring and not get scored against. I caught up and got the lead with a few more takedowns, then with about a minute left, I applied good strategies, stayed focused in a good position, and executed what my coach told me to do.

“And, with God’s grace, I beat a worthy opponent to win the title,” he said.

Born in 1964, Grant has enjoyed the sport of wrestling throughout his life. He was introduced to the sport by a physical education teacher during middle school in California.

“Wrestling was always special for me throughout school, but the desire and ability to go to college, when I was young, was not present,” he said.

He lived on Maui for about 10 years beginning in 1989 and was a coach at King Kekaulike High School for three seasons in the late ’90s. He returned to California to get his college degree and teaching credentials.

Several years later, Grant returned to Maui, and he said it was a “Godsend” for him to be asked to organize and lead a middle school wrestling program with Nate Williams. This “call to serve” provided him the opportunity to get more deeply involved in the community and the sport of wrestling, he said. His coaching continues as part of a wrestling after-school program at ʻĪao Intermediate School. He also coaches with some private clubs.

Later, at Baldwin High School, he was a volunteer wrestling coach, became an assistant coach and went on to serve as the girls’ team coach.

“The Baldwin Wrestling Program has always been supportive of all intermediate wrestling, and so it created a natural flow for many wrestlers and coaching,” he said.

He also started the “Maui Tiger Style Club,” which operates within Maui Style Wrestling. There, he coaches and with Grant Nakamura. “We work well together,” he said. “Our styles and commitment, and with the assistance of reliable parents and willing coaches, enabled us to introduce wrestling to many kids of all ages, and provide various opportunities to those wrestlers who want to dedicate more time to wrestling.”

Grant leads a number of youth club wrestlers on summer trips to the US mainland for wrestling competitions and other wrestling events, with Maui athletes competing as part of “Team Hawaiʻi” in USA Wrestling tournaments.

With his dedication to the sport, Grant said he has grown accustomed to “the schedule, the grind and commitments of the seasons.” Then, there’s a month or two of non-wrestling.

“The break is appreciated and relished,” he said. “I can shut it down, (just don’t get out of shape), count my blessings and realize in about one month I can gear up again with school starting.”

Dedication is a necessary ingredient to success, along with not getting distracted with being overly busy with the usual issues of health, family and finances. Dedication is “not part time; nor is it just convenient! That is a concept which I try to instill in the wrestlers, with some regards to balance, keeping in mind that every kid comes into the room with unique situations and potential.”

“I feel so blessed in different ways that enable me to live this lifestyle,” he said. “I had experiences with bad coaches and good coaches when I was a youth. I had supportive and loving parents.”

Grant said he strives to associate with good people “who have given me the tools, opportunities and time to keep learning and continue helping. It takes a lot of people who give of themselves, even if it’s for a brief time or just a simple task that helps me get things done.”

“I hope they remember that the wrestlers and the coaches appreciate them,” he said.

In some cases, the success of student-athletes can be seen as they benefit personally, physically and academically from their participation in wrestling, he said. They reach their goals; whether it be a state championship, a college opportunity or simply gaining the confidence and strength that comes from hard physical work and the willpower to improve.

“I other cases, the evidence is not so obvious,” Grant said. “The personal growth or positive difference in one of our wrestlers’ lives will probably last a lifetime, even though it was an experience that just happened in one instance or only observed by one other person. Either way, in my involvement and observation, if a wrestler sticks to the program long enough, then his or her beneficial growth is always the result.”

Grant said wrestling is a gateway to personal growth and even a better world.