Who says football is the only sport that offers scholarships for local athletes? This year, four local young men found out that being competitive on the mat is just as fulfilling as tackling opponents on the field.

Schey McMoore, Nathaniel Tuamoheloa, Iafeta Vou, and Onosai Pule are on their way to college, thanks to scholarship awards of $15,500 each, per year, to attend Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri.

Their success is due largely to the strong support of the Department of Youth and Women’s Affairs (DYWA), local sports development officer and wrestling federation official Ethan Lake, family members and friends.

McMoore graduated from Faasao Marist College Preparatory School in Lepuapua and he departed the territory first. The other three, Tuamoheloa of Nuuuli Polytech, Vou of Leone High School, and Pule of Samoana followed a week later.

Lake told Samoa News last week that the recent scholarship awards are much to be excited about. But he shared that there has been a wonderful announcement, that the two local wrestlers who attended college last year, also on scholarships, have excelled both in and out of the classroom and therefore, both have been accepted for another year.

Nolan Puletasi, a graduate of Leone High School, and Rodney Wilson of Tafuna High School are now starters in their wrestling program.

“This is all part of the DYWA’s college preparatory program,” Lake explained. “Through our department, we have been able to help a lot of local football players apply for college scholarships and now we are branching out to include other sports.”

Lake said, “We want to stress that there’s more out there than football scholarships and all people have to do is ask. We will help them and if not, we will try to point them in the right direction.”

In addition to being the sports development officer for the DYWA, Lake is also a former president of the American Samoa Amateur Wrestling Association and he also serves as the Regional Development Officer for Oceania, which falls under United World Wrestling.

He said recent changes within wrestling have resulted in the sport being represented for the first time on the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“This is a big step and goes to show that wrestling is becoming more popular throughout the world,” Lake said.

He added that McMoore and Puletasi have registered to compete for the 2015 World Championships, which will be held in Las Vegas, NV next month, September 7-12.

He said other wrestlers aren’t old enough to compete at this level because the age requirement is 18 years old and older. “This means that our two Samoan wrestlers will be among the youngest of the competitors during next month’s event,” Lake explained.

He concluded, “The DYWA supports the promotion of all sports and we will do what we can to promote our youth through sports.”

Last week, gymnastics lessons wrapped up at the Pago Pago Community Youth Center, a first for American Samoa. The goal is to get all sports minded people together so even the not-so-popular sports can be introduced to local young people. Lake said they have reaching out to each of the national federations for help in supporting local sports and this ties in with their goal of ‘empowering’ local youth and women.

More information on local sports programs can be obtained by contacting Ethan Lake at 770-1006.

Congratulations to our local wrestlers and we wish you the best of luck!