Wrestler pins down success
By Leila Wai
Baldwin High School senior Ryan “Bulla “Tuzon speaks softly, careful not to reveal too much about a past that influences almost every decision he makes today.
“I saw a lot of things growing up, a lot of things people don’t see, “Tuzon said. “It made me humble; I learned from it. My whole life wasn’t that bad.”
In many ways, Tuzon already has lived a lifetime in his 17 years.
As an eighth-grader, his mother was sent to prison, joining two older brothers who were already there, one serving multiple life terms for murder.
Tuzon, who also lived in a homeless shelter for a year, never met his father because “he died before I was born.”
“Sometimes I’m ashamed, other times I don’t care, “Tuzon said. “I’m ashamed because everybody doesn’t see or saw what I saw. Or they weren’t raised like I was. It wasn’t normal. They wouldn’t understand.”
Despite being surrounded by chaos, Tuzon has emerged as a role model and leader on his various sports teams.
Tuzon said he carries a 3.3 grade point average and is a member of the school’s photography and Hawaiian clubs.
He hopes to be the first member of his family to attend and graduate from college, and plans on using wrestling to do so.
In December, Tuzon was presented with the “Keiki’s Dream Hero’s Award, “by Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson, for “people who had a hard life, but did positive things in their life, “Tuzon said.
“He’s more special than special, “Baldwin wrestling coach Mike Donahoo said. “I’ve been coaching for years, and he stands out in every aspect. He holds a lot of things in, and he lets it go in sports and helping out and stuff. It’s not anger, he has a lot of emotion built up inside him.”
A lesser person would have crumbled. Instead, Tuzon discovered the right outlet to keep his life in order.
“I was trying to avoid living what I’ve been through, “Tuzon said. “(I didn’t want to) “follow what everyone else in my family did. I was using sports to help me.”
Tuzon said only his best friends know about his past. Talking about his childhood might “help people understand. I hide a lot of things. I act happy, even though I’m mad I act happy, “he said.
Tuzon keeps himself busy and stays out of trouble by spending long hours after school and on weekends training for any one of the three sports he participates in: football in the fall; wrestling in the winter; judo in the spring.
“He knows in life, you’re accountable for your actions, “Donahoo said. “He knows that more than anybody does. His family is well known, not for all positive things. He says, ‘I want to be known as a good guy, not as a tough guy.’ “
Hitting the Mat
Tuzon got his start in wrestling watching his older brother, Lorrin Ishimine, now 20, when Tuzon was in the eighth grade.
“I saw him lift the guy up and slam him to the ground and thought, ‘That was mean,’ ” Tuzon said of Ishimine, an all-star wrestler at Baldwin.
He said he enjoys wrestling because the coaches help to get his mind off of things, and it teaches him discipline and respect.
Donahoo, who has been coaching at Baldwin since 1982, called Tuzon the “best kid I’ve ever had, without a doubt. And I’ve had kids go on to be lawyers, businessmen all around the country.”
His freshman year at Baldwin was the first time he competed in organized sports; as a child, he couldn’t participate because he spent his afternoons helping his mother clean condominiums for her business.
“I liked it. Sometimes it was irritating, but now I look at it as good. It helped me, “Tuzon said.
Tuzon has lived with his older brothers, Ishimine and Duwayne Kosi, since 1999, even staying in a homeless shelter for about a year when the three of them were first starting out.
At first, he said it was, “shame, and then I just got used to it. I just turned to wrestling, and tried to turn a negative into a positive.”
“I saw the need for us to separate (from my mother) in 1999. She was dealing with issues with my brother, “Kosi, 28, said. “Obviously, it was hard, but we handled it well. We just kept our heads up.”
Tuzon said he is the person he is today because of “sports, friends, coaches, and family, and strong support.”
ROCK SOLID
Kosi remembered Tuzon when he was 2 years old, when he helped to build rock walls, lining up with his uncles to carry and place rocks.
“Me saying this, it sounds weird, like how parents brag about their kids to our family, but we’ve seen it, “said Kosi, who said working hard came naturally to Tuzon.
“At birth, he came out with muscles, he was stacked. You could see muscle tone, “Kosi said. “He held his bottle in the first month. Everybody was tripping out.”
Kosi, who described Tuzon as “a great person. He’s humble, funny, respectful, spiritual, dedicated, hardworking, genuine, “said he doesn’t have to worry about his younger brother.
“He never smokes, drinks, has no desire to go out and party, “Kosi said. “He’s a great friend to his brothers, and at school.”
Tuzon said the decision not to drink was made between himself and some of his football teammates, who instead go to parties “to have fun.”
“There’s a group of us that are like that, “he said. “Every year someone in the senior class died in a car accident. Everyone says it’s a curse, but it’s just the choices you make.”
“I think he just instilled within himself to be a great person, “Kosi said. “He was always good, even before all that happened. He’s just a great person. I believe he’s destined for great things, but I wouldn’t tell him that.”
Notes: Tuzon is the No. 1 seed in the 160-pound class in this weekend’s HHSAA/Chevron State Wrestling Championships at Blaisdell Arena. He won the Maui Interscholastic League title.
Reach Leila Wai at [email protected] or 535-2457.
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