When the University of Hawai'i and University of Wyoming football teams meet on Saturday, Nov. 23 in Laramie, Wyo., they will renew the Paniolo Trophy, which was given annually to the winner from 1979-97 when both teams were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
 
Named after the Hawaiian word for cowboy, the Paniolo Trophy was donated by the Wyoming Paniolo Society, a group of Hawai'i residents with roots in Wyoming in an effort to strengthen the bond of friendship between the two institutions. The trophy currently belongs to Wyoming, who won the last meeting in 1997. In fact, the Cowboys have won the last five games in the series, including three straight in Laramie.
 
Wyoming leads the rivalry series 12-7, however, the teams actually began playing each other in 1978 – the year before Hawai'i joined the WAC – with UH winning 27-22. The series was interrupted following the 1997 game after Wyoming moved to the Mountain West Conference. When UH joined the MW last year, talks between both schools began about renewing the rivalry trophy.
 
"The Paniolo Trophy holds a special place in the history of our football program," said UH Athletics Director Ben Jay. "We appreciate those individuals on the Big Island for helping to create this new trophy and to the University of Wyoming in their efforts of keeping this tradition alive. We are excited and look forward to continuing this rivalry for many years to come."
 
The original Paniolo Trophy featured a bronze cowboy preparing to toss a lariat. However that trophy was lost and a replacement was recently donated by Dr. Billy Bergin, a regent emeritus of the University of Hawai'i. With the help of the Paniolo Preservation Society, a group that celebrates the Hawaiian ranching industry and headed by President Mrs. Patricia C. Bergin, the new bronze trophy features Hawaiian cowboy Ikua Purdy roping a wild stag bull.
 
The trophy is a reproduction of a larger work by noted western artist and sculptor Fred Fellows located at Parker Ranch in Waimea, Hawai'i. The trophy is approximately 12 inches high and 20 inches long mounted on a sloping slab of walnut.
 
Engraved are the scores each game in the series and the inscription, "Originated during the 1979 football season when a group of Hawai'i residents with roots in Wyoming created a travelling prize to be presented to the winner of the Wyoming-Hawai'i football game. It was originated to strengthen the bonds of friendship between these two universities. Paniolo is the Hawaiian term for Cowboy. The two institutions thank the Paniolo Preservation Society for donating this beautiful bronze featuring Hawaiian Cowboy Ikua Purdy."
 
Purdy won the steer-roping contest at the Frontier Days Rodeo in 1908 and in 2008, the PPS celebrated the Waiomina (Hawaiian word for Wyoming) Centennial Celebration as a joint honor with the state of Wyoming and city of Cheyenne with the state of Hawai'i and Purdy's hometown, Kamuela, Hawai'i. Purdy was the first Hawaiian inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1999.
 
The Paniolo Trophy is the oldest rivalry trophy in UH history. The school also recently revived the Kuter Trophy, which goes to the Hawai'i-Air Force winner, and started in 1980. Last season, the Falcons regained the trophy with a 21-7 victory in Colorado Springs, Colo.