DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM The 12-member McKinley High School wrestling team includes defending Oahu Interscholastic Association champions, left to right, Emile Suehiro (senior, 130 pounds), his brother, Rene (junior, 140), Desmond Thain (senior, 135) and brother, Lawrence ( senior, 119).

Brotherly love

McKinley's wrestling team
has 2 sets of brothers and
all of them open the year
as OIA champs

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

When the McKinley wrestling team opens its Oahu Interscholastic Association schedule on Friday, the Tigers will take the mat knowing they've already faced some of the best the league has to offer.

Two sets of brothers account for one-third of McKinley's 12-member wrestling team, and all of them return this season as OIA champions.

"You're only as good as your workout partner, and they have such good workout partners. It fortifies the whole room," McKinley coach Chris Johnson said. "The whole room lights up because of the intensity."

Emile and Rene Suehiro and Desmond and Lawrence Thain won league titles in their respective weight classes last year. As a team, McKinley also opens defense of the championship won last winter Friday against Kaimuki at the Kaiser High gym.

"We've had a lot of brother sets go through, but it's been awhile since we've had this kind of quality brother sets," said Johnson, entering his 17th season with the Tigers program.

The Thain brothers are both seniors but aren't twins, as Desmond is eight months older than Lawrence. Desmond is wrestling in the 135-pound weight class this season, while Lawrence is the Tigers' representative at 119.

Emile Suehiro is also entering his senior season, with Rene going into his junior year. Both are moving up a weight class this year, as Emile is entered in the 130 division and Rene at 140.

The two sets of brothers have known each other since elementary school as classmates at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school. Marcel Suehiro, the eldest of the Suehiro brothers, got his younger siblings interested in wrestling before graduating from McKinley in 1999, and moving on to Embry-Riddle University in Arizona.

The Suehiros went to McKinley, while the Thains enrolled at Kaimuki. The brothers were reunited last year when the Thains transferred to McKinley, where the Suehiro brothers helped them assimilate into the Tiger squad.

"We felt close to everybody in the first three weeks," Desmond Thain said.

He added that facing the Suehiros in practice let he and brother Lawrence know they had the potential to contend in the OIA.

"It told us where we were at," Desmond said. "If we were junk, we'd be getting our butts kicked by them. But we came in and we were doing all right and improving against them."

The quartet helped McKinley make up for a lack of numbers by winning their divisions at last year's OIA championships. It gave the Tigers their fourth team championship since 1996.

Lawrence Thain got the Tigers started by winning the 119-pound class. Emile Suehiro then won at 125 and Desmond Thain followed with a victory at 130. Rene Suehiro captured his second league championship by winning the 135 division.

Rene went on to win a state championship with a 6-3 win over Iolani's Kyle Muraoka in the final and enters his junior year with high expectations.

"I know how the competition is in states and how much harder you have to push," he said.

Rene got a little extra boost at the state meet by watching his brother's match. Emile lost to Iolani's Brent Kakesako, 4-3, in one of the fiercest battles of the 2002 championships.

"His match was before mine last year and that motivated me a lot," Rene said.

Emile said the loss is pushing him to work even harder in his senior season and his effort in practice hasn't gone unnoticed by his coach.

"(Emile) has all the attributes of a champion," Johnson said. "He's extremely disciplined, he's very humble, he's very respectful. He wrestles injured all the time because he goes so hard.

"When we sprint he's always first. All I have to do is say, 'Keep up with Emile' and I know they're going hard."

Both Desmond and Lawrence advanced to the semifinals in their divisions at last year's state championships, but lost to Iolani wrestlers. Desmond went on to finish fifth at 130, while Lawrence came in sixth at 119.

As McKinley's lightest wrestler, it's up to Lawrence to get the team off to a strong start in its matches.

"I usually have to go up first, so I have to break the ice," Lawrence said. "I always try to win that first match so I can give the team a better look at what they have to do."

Aside from the point totals, the Suehiros and Thains also give the Tigers stability in a sport with a notoriously high attrition rate and provide their teammates a high standard to measure themselves against.

"When we put these four guys in there it keeps the mix going and it keeps the intensity high," Johnson said. "In this case, you have four OIA champions going at it, and I have the luxury of shifting them around the room so everybody can see different styles of wrestling."

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