Hawaii
Beloved Hawaii Island teacher, wrestling coach retires after 44 years
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Charles Manning was not expecting a hallway filled with screaming students and staff at Pahoa High School last Friday.
“I was in total disbelief and shock and overwhelmed,” said Manning. “I figured, when I opened the door, I’d overlook a courtyard and there’d be a few students and a few teachers.”
It wasn’t just a few. A lot of people came out, some with signs and lei, all to hug the beloved social studies teacher one last time.
“And as it progressed, I can’t tell you how many times I cried, how many students I saw, and even ex-students showed up. It was, it was just overwhelming. I didn’t know what to say,” said Manning.
The 67-year-old is retiring after 44 years at the state Department of Education. He spent 42 of those years in Puna, teaching the proud Daggers and he’s leaving quite a legacy.
“One of my greatest highlights was when I started or helped start the girls wrestling team here at Pahoa High School and in the state of Hawaii,” said Manning.
As wrestling coach in the 1980s, Manning encouraged two girls to be the first in the islands to try the sport.
One of them is the daughter of fellow Pahoa High educator, Iwalani Woo O’Brien.
Sarah Visaya made Hawaii sports history by being the first girl to ever pin a boy on Hawaii Island; an accomplishment that Manning said made front-page news.
“They were powerful coaches who gave my daughter her self worth and self esteem back,” said O’Brien. She recalled Coach Manning and the assistant coach telling the girls, “You can go in there. I know it’s boys, but you can do this.”
Manning’s retirement wasn’t supposed to happen this soon, but a cancer diagnosis shifted his focus on his family. His son was there with him for his last day on campus.
“The school starts to sing the alma mater and that’s where me and my dad both kind of started to cry because we did not expect that,” said Jerricho Manning.
“People would ask me, ‘Well why do you stay at Pahoa?’ and I say because at Pahoa, I can make an impact, and I think I did,” said Charles Manning.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Hawaii County Surf Forecast for March 04, 2026 | Big Island Now
Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| North Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 |
| East Facing | 3-5 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 5-7 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||
| Winds | East winds 5 to 10 mph. | ||||||
|
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| Weather | Partly sunny. Numerous showers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the upper 70s. | |||||
| Winds | East winds 10 to 15 mph. | |||||
|
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| Sunrise | 6:37 AM HST. | |||||
| Sunset | 6:27 PM HST. | |||||
Forecast for Big Island Leeward
| Shores | Tonight | Wednesday | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surf | Surf | |||
| PM | AM | AM | PM | |
| West Facing | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 1-3 |
| South Facing | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 |
| Weather | Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly cloudy. Hazy. |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Temperature | In the upper 60s. | ||||||||||
| Winds | West winds around 5 mph early in the afternoon, becoming light and variable. |
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|
|||||||||||
| Weather | Partly sunny. Hazy. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Temperature | In the mid 80s. | ||||||||
| Winds | Light and variable winds, becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. |
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| Sunrise | 6:41 AM HST. | ||||||||
| Sunset | 6:31 PM HST. | ||||||||
The current moderate northwest swell will continue a gradual decline through Thursday. A small west-northwest swell will arrive on Friday and hold through the weekend, followed by a small north-northwest swell early next week. Choppy east shore surf will build to near seasonal average by Wednesday as trade winds strengthen over and east of the islands. Little change is expected along east facing shores through the weekend, followed by a possible decline early next week if winds veer southerly. Surf along south facing shores will remain small to tiny through the weekend, and some islands may an increase in choppy surf if southerly winds develop early next week.
NORTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.
NORTH WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Clean in the early morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions move in during the morning hours with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.
WEST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Semi glassy in the morning with N winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting WNW 5-10mph.
SOUTH EAST
am
pm
Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.
Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NE winds 10-15mph. This becomes Sideshore texture/chop for the afternoon.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com
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