KEAAU — Kamehameha senior Ka’au Estrella got his wrestling training early as a 3-year-old, riding his personal horse, who happened to be his dad. ADVERTISING KEAAU — Kamehameha senior Ka’au Estrella got his wrestling training early as a 3-year-old, riding
KEAAU — Kamehameha senior Ka’au Estrella got his wrestling training early as a 3-year-old, riding his personal horse, who happened to be his dad.
“My dad (Jason Estrella) would put me on his back, and I would ride like a horse,” Estrella said. “He would tell me to get my hooks in. He was a wrestler at Kamehameha-Kapalama.”
Obviously with the Estrella last name, the 132-pound Warrior wrestler can’t count the number of times he’s been asked if he’s related to retired UH-Hilo baseball coach Joey Estrella, who’s still going strong as a UH-Hilo softball assistant to Callen Perreira.
“A ton of people have asked me that,” he said.
And no, they’re not related.
“The funny thing is we live on the same street,” Estrella said. “When I was younger, I used to go to his baseball camps.”
But he gravitated toward wrestling and all his training, especially at Penn Prodigy club wrestling since he was a freshman has paid off.
Estrella repeated in the 132 class with a technical fall 16-1 win over Hilo’s Kailee Hamada at the BIIF championships on Saturday at Koaia Gym. (Technical fall is 15 points or more, sort of like a 10-run TKO baseball score.)
“Kailee is a tough guy. He’s short and stocky and really strong,” Estrella said. “I was going for the pin, but I got the technical fall. My senior year was really about inspiring the younger guys on the team. I just wanted to show them that hard work pays off.
“You just have to follow your dreams, and you can take it to the next level and be on top of your game.”
Estrella pocketed silver as a freshman and sophomore. With his improvement, he’s gotten looks from colleges for a wrestling scholarship.
“He’s a good kid and works hard. He’s a great leader,” Kamehameha boys coach Brendan Courtot said. “He’s worked hard to learn technique. The best thing about him is he’s been a leader the whole time. As a freshman, he was special.
“He understood he had a kuleana, a responsibility and answered the call from the coaches. He took a lot of things from the coaches, and he was expected to lead and he stepped up.”
No repeat
Kealakehe denied Kamehameha’s bid for consecutive BIIF titles, winning 193 points to 184.5.
The Waveriders had five gold medalists: Kobby Faeldonea (106), Elison Galanto (126), Jacson Miles (138), Malosi Abraham (182), and Radon Miles (195).
Besides Estrella, Faeldonea, Galanto, Kamehameha’s Manu Wengler (145) and Brendan Figueroa (160) repeated.
The Warriors had four gold medalists: Estrella, Wengler, Figueroa, and Joseph Hooper (285).
No pin today
One of the most intense matches was the showdown between Hilo senior Wela Mamone and Konawaena’s Dominic Dela Cruz in the 152-pound class. Last year, Mamone took third at 160 and Cruz was fourth at 152.
Mamone defeated Dela Cruz on points, 5-2, and it was an up-and-up match that could have turned either way with one mistake.
“I wanted to make it quick and pin him in the first round,” Mamone said. “But he was really strong. I got him in a half-nelson, stayed on top of him, and tried not to let him get up.
“I knew I couldn’t get the pin. Sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do to win.”
