Truong Vu could be the most formidable opponent one will encounter.

On the wrestling mat, Vu is 28-1 this season, competing in the 114-pound weight class.

In the classroom, the 'Iolani senior is just as tough and relentless.

Regardless of the environment, he never stops.

Not when there's so much more to learn. Not when there's much more to improve on. Not when opportunities abound.

He's a student-athlete with a not-so typical story.

In his third year with the school's Science Bowl team, he captained the squad to a second-place finish at Saturday's Hawai'i Science Bowl. Science Bowl runs in conjunction with wrestling season, which meant Vu missed Saturday's ILH wrestling matches.

He's also captain of the school's business and economics club and two years ago, as a sophomore, he helped 'Iolani win the national title at the Economics Challenge.

He's also a member of the school's last two state championship math teams.

Last quarter, he had a 4.2 grade point average.

"He's tenacious," 'Iolani wrestling coach Carl Schroers said. "He just never stops going after his opponent. He commonly will get the escape and immediately turn around and attack while the kid is still trying to gather himself up. It's unusual in high school."

His teachers call him brilliant, at times amazed by the wealth of knowledge from someone they describe simply as an outgoing, ordinary guy.

"He remembers and retains information and he's very assertive and he's very willing to let everybody knows that he knows," 'Iolani biology teacher and Science Bowl coach Randyll Warehime said.

RAISING A SCHOLAR

Years ago at Kalihi Kai Elementary, they were two bright-eyed individuals who crossed paths in the classroom. Before Vu's academic pursuits and success at 'Iolani, Ferozah (Kusunoki) Mackenzie knew a bright future lay ahead for the student who always raised his hand in her class.

"He always asked questions," Mackenzie said. "He wasn't one of those who sat there and took everything in. If he had a question, he'd ask it. He never hesitated to share his opinion."

She first met Vu while student teaching in his second grade class. In the fifth grade, she was his math teacher and knew then that he was "high achieving and he caught onto things well."

With middle school ahead, she suggested he apply to 'Iolani.

"He was a really good student and I always felt no matter what school he went to, he would succeed," Mackenzie said. "We felt maybe there were more opportunities for him if he applied to private school."

Like some of his classmates, Vu grew up in public housing. His family immigrated from Vietnam when he was 3. Cartoons provided a crash course in English, and he felt comfortable with the language by the time he was in preschool.

"When I was growing up, my dad didn't take me out to see much of Hawai'i," Vu said. "I watched TV and I would try to pick up what they were saying and my (older) brother would help me out by telling me what they were saying."

Knowing his family's financial situation, Mackenzie's parents (her father is an 'Iolani alum) paid for Vu's application fee to 'Iolani. She even went with his parents to an orientation meeting for support. But in the end, Vu ended up on the waiting list.

"It was my second year teaching when I had him in the fifth grade," Mackenzie said. "I was one of those bright-eyed teachers who wanted to change the world and we felt he was the one we could help."

Vu attended Kalakaua Middle School for sixth grade before being admitted to 'Iolani for seventh grade. Years later, the Vu family still keeps in contact with Mackenzie.

"I try to visit her every year and tell her 'thank you,' " Vu said.

LEARNING TO WRESTLE

Vu's auspicious and fortuitous start at wrestling didn't begin on the mats of 'Iolani's wrestling room. Rather, it began with a seemingly endless match on the lawn fronting the school's Castle Building during the seventh grade.

"I told him 'wrestle' and we started wrestling in the grass and then I'd take him down and stuff but he wouldn't stop," recounted friend Andrew Chung, who took up wrestling in the sixth grade and is now a senior who wrestles at the 145 weight class.

Chung remembers winning, then convincing his friend to take up wrestling. Vu did so in the eighth grade and credits former 'Iolani coach Yoshi Honda, who "really made it easy to be accepted and get into wrestling."

"Mostly I want to better myself and every year, I feel that I could do better and I just try to push myself in practice," Vu said.

Vu competed at 119 pounds last year and was one of the smaller competitors in that class. When the 114 class was created this season, he made the switch. While he was undersized last year at 119, 114 is loaded with tough competition.

"One-fourteen is tough, but it's not like I haven't been in a tough weight class before," Vu said. "The past two years, my weight class has been pretty crazy. It feels better being one of the bigger guys in one of the weight classes instead of the smallest."

Vu opened the season by competing in a higher weight class — winning the 120 at the Maui Invitational Tournament in December. He followed it up by winning the 114 at the Hawai'i Wrestling Officials Scholarship Tournament, beating Saint Louis' Drake Medeiros (last year's state 103 champion) in overtime, Kaiser's Brantley Yakabe and Lahainaluna's Edison Hidalgo in the final. He also won his weight division at the 'Iolani Invitational Tournament.

His improvement and progress has been eye-opening.

"We've been really surprised right from the get-go about the change in skill level," Schroers said. "Over the summer, we went to a team camp and he did alright. He wasn't as consistently strong as he is now."

Much like he is in the classroom, Schroers said Vu has found ways to problem solve on the mat.

"To get to the level he's at, like at any sport, you have guys who develop their game-time IQ," Schroers said. "Now, he feels things the instant before they happen and make those adjustments more readily.

"Whether attacking, defending or scrambling, he really understands the sport so much better than a lot of his opponents, even though it's a tougher opponent."

STRIKING A BALANCE

With a full schedule, Vu has learned to manage his time to balance everything. As a sophomore, his teachers mentioned different academic activities, and he decided to give it all a try.

That year, he was a member of 'Iolani's team that won at the National Economics Challenge in New York. The team has won the last 10 state titles and has claimed five regional titles.

"I thought it was cool being in a place not Hawai'i, seeing how other people are, the whole experience," Vu said.

This year, Vu wants to help 'Iolani win another national title, this time in the advanced placement division.

"He's a real character, fun to be around," said economics teacher Dick Rankin. "It's like he knows when to play and when to work and I admire that in a young person.

"When it's time to get to business, he does it. He probably applies that same way into wrestling."

Vu was recruited for the Science Bowl as a sophomore by Warehime. In Science Bowl, which is in a format similar to the game show "Jeopardy," teams are quizzed on physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, earth science, general science and math. Vu recently received one of two book awards from the school's science department, which recognized outstanding science students.

To do well in these academic competitions requires endless amounts of reading over vast subject matters. Vu's teachers say he remembers material that was taught years ago.

"He's brilliant, he remembers things from long, long ago and that's what makes him a valuable asset to Science Bowl," Warehime said. "He remembers things he had in seventh-grade science and he's a senior."

Vu has been a small part of the math team's monster success. The team has won the last 16 state titles.

"He's an active participant in class," math instructor and coach Michael Park said. "He has knowledge of mathematics that most students just don't have, like the history of mathematics and theorems.

"When he was younger, he read a lot of math books. He has the big picture of mathematics that most students don't have."

Vu said he's learned a lot about time management the past two years, striking a balance between the activities he enjoys. A typical day includes waking up at 6 a.m., catching the bus to school from Kalihi, classes, practices, catching the bus home in the evening and doing homework.

"I try to balance my times, see where my conflicts are and try to adjust," Vu said, who is interested in majoring in engineering in college. "After school, I usually make sure I can get to wrestling at 4."

Striking that balance has left opponents and supporters wondering just how he pulls it all off.

"He's got talent and energy and I think you need both to do that many things well," Rankin said. "Some of the things he knows, you wonder how he knows them."

As tenacious and driven as he is, those around him describe him as an easygoing, regular guy, who like any high schooler is at times crazy.

Chung brought up instances where Vu orders the largest-sized shave ice at Shimazu Store in Liliha, or the one time where he single-handedly ate $11 worth of frozen yogurt — which didn't go over so well later.

"He's fun to have in class, even though he's very, very intelligent, he's just a regular guy," Warehime said. "He's outgoing, he's fun loving, he's a regular kind of person that if you met him on street, you wouldn't know how brilliant he is. He comes across as a regular guy."

An amazing guy and a brilliant competitor.

'Iolani senior Truong Vu carries 28-1 wrestling record, 4.2 GPA