Another day

Back in South Dakota, Steve, his old coach and his wrestling team are being inducted into the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame for their role in an event that took place 47 years earlier — one in which they didn't even participate.

Steve and his teammates were among the best in the state in 1969. But, they never got the opportunity to wrestle for a state championship because of a February snowstorm that stranded the team and many other Sioux Falls wrestlers on an icy highway 10 miles from the arena.

Steve, wrestling at 154 pounds at the time, didn't make it to the weigh-in on time and was disqualified, along with the rest of his Lincoln High teammates. The local newspaper dubbed the school's disqualification "The State Title That Wasn't."

Without a hint of snow on a balmy autumn night, Steve and the rest of his teammates reminisce and reflect on the past. While he may have missed his shot at a state title in 1969, he certainly hasn't let any more opportunities pass him by. Steve continues looking forward. He'll return to Hawaii soon, spend more time with his two children and two grandchildren, practice Pilates in a sun-swept studio near the Pacific Ocean and paddle again with the Hanalei Canoe Club.

MSA has threatened multiple times to throw him off balance, but with the help he found at Mayo Clinic, Steve continues to have time with something that holds him steady — the life he loves.

"I keep busy," Steve says. "That's for sure."

Supporting the Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics means Mayo Clinic can launch more cutting-edge trials aimed at slowing neurodegenerative diseases.