Shane Cunanan calls Todd Hayase “Rain Man.” Malakai Panuve calls him friend and foe. Kim Ball calls him “an incredible human being.”

Hayase is stepping down as Lahainaluna High School wrestling head coach, a program he has guided for two decades, to spend more time with his parents, Jack and Betty Hayase, who are both 88 years old.

Today will be the final time Hayase leads the Lunas in the Maui Interscholastic League wrestling championships, which start at Baldwin’s Jon Garcia Gym at 10 a.m., with finals scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m.

“I know I will still be involved in Lahainaluna and the MIL actually as a whole,” Hayase said after practice on Wednesday. “But you know, it’s a long time coming. I’ve been talking about it for years, but I think the timing is right. The past two years has been tough on everybody with the pandemic and it really opens your eyes to your perspective on other things. So, I think it’s the perfect timing.”

Hayase leaves the Lunas’ program with numerous MIL team titles, three state crowns — boys and girls in 2015, and girls in 2017 — and the unquestioned respect of the entire league.

Lahainaluna’s state team titles were the first three ever for a Neighbor Island program — Baldwin’s girls also won the crown in 2018. Hayase started with the team 27 years ago and became head coach in 1999.

“It’s time to pass the torch onto these next coaches, they have all been with the program for years — it’s not like any major change,” Hayase said. “They are going to have to tag team and figure it all out. Being a (Department of Education) guy, I know all the administrative side and all that other paperwork part that people don’t like to do, so they’re going to have to learn that part.”

Cunanan has been coaching with Hayase since 2008 and is a physical education teacher at Lahaina Intermediate School, where Hayase is a counselor.

“We call him ‘Rain Man’ … because he’s just really genius and smart,” Cunanan said. “He knows, we joke, every kid’s Social Security Number, their records, their height, their weight, exactly what they weigh in at. He’s just on top of everything.

“He’s just so organized, just so positive, he’s always bringing the positivity and looking at the positive side of everything rather than the negative.”

Cunanan wrestled collegiately at both Oregon State and West Virginia, but he has learned a bunch from Hayase, who wrestled at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., after graduating from Baldwin.

“He’s been such a huge mentor to me and all the coaches around me,” Cunanan said. “Fortunately I get to work with him as well. His main quote is always ‘kaizen’ — give 100 percent all the time, always strive for the best. … He models that to the highest level. He’s just always working hard, as hard as he can at everything that he does.”

Ball was Lahainaluna’s head wrestling coach from 1980-88.

“Obviously it’s a huge loss for Lahainaluna’s wrestling program, wrestling on the west side, hopefully he’ll stay involved with club,” Ball said. “But it’s also a huge loss for the league because he does so much for the league that people don’t even know — when it comes down to seedings for the state tournament or anything.

“He helps us organize our tournaments to have the best tournaments we can. He does a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people don’t even see.”

Ball added that he feels a lot of what Hayase does as a counselor at Lahaina Intermediate rolls over into the wrestling room in the gym up the hill on Lahainaluna Road.

“He has all the statistics in his head off every kid in the state, nondescript stuff that you wouldn’t even think of, but that’s how involved he is,” Ball said. “The time he puts in is unbelievable. But just as committed and outstanding as a coach he is, he is an incredible human being who really cares about his kids.”

Panuve has been battling Hayase since 2004 when Panuve took over as Baldwin head coach.

“I love Todd, he’s a very good friend of mine, we’ve coached against each other for many years,” Panuve said. “Hearing that he’s about to step down, I don’t believe it. I know deep inside, I don’t believe it, but I know he’s got other priorities that he has to take care of. His family is very important to him and I respect that very well.”

Panuve knows Hayase’s presence will not be too far away.

“We will miss him, he is the icon behind Garner Ivey,” Panuve said. “He has been there since the beginning of time. He has built a huge tradition of excellence at Lahainaluna High School. … There’s a lot of coaches that learned from that, I learned from that. I look up to Todd as one of my role models.”

Hayase admits that he is looking forward to getting some of his time back.

“Well, you know, I just walked in the door and it’s a typical night where I get home at 8, 8:30, take home a bunch of kids and stuff,” Hayase said. “So, I guess I’m not sure, I’ve never done it. It’s going to be odd in some ways, but like I said, I’m still going to be involved in the MIL tournaments and our youth wrestling, intermediate wrestling, so I’m not going to go far.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com