Trio captures third consecutive state titles


Three more have turned the hat trick in state high school wrestling.

Lahainaluna's Carly Jaramillo and Lalelei Mata'afa, and Kamehameha's Teshya Alo won their third consecutive titles at the Chevron state wrestling championships Saturday night at the Blaisdell Center Arena.

Jaramillo, a senior, defeated Campbell's Angela Peralta to take the 145-pound division. A semifinal loss her freshman year was the only road block from her winning the coveted fourth crown. She took third that year.

"The feeling never gets old," Jaramillo said of her third consecutive title. "It time it gets better and better."

Jaramillo said she plans to wrestle in college, but has yet to decide where. She wants to study veterinary medicine or criminal justice.

Just as satisfying for Jaramillo was her school sweeping the team crowns.

"The team title is unbelievable because we never won one before and we got it for both boys and girls," Jaramillo said.

Unlike Jaramillo, Mata'afa and Alo are only juniors and still have a shot to join Moanalua's Caylene Valdez and Kamehameha's Randolyn Nohara as four-time champions.

Mata'afa pinned Waipahu's Sabrina Hollins in 28 seconds to win the 225-pound class. Mata'afa also pinned Kahuku's Sabrian Alo in the semifinals in just 11 seconds.

"It feels great, awesome," Mata'afa said of her title. "I put in so much hard work and it paid off in the end."

As dominant as she was in the tournament, wrestling might not be in her future after she graduate next year.

"If I'm not wrestling, I'm playing water polo," she said of her future after graduation. "I want to continue wrestling or pursue water polo. I'm waiting for scholarships to decide what I want to do for college."

Alo pinned Molokai's Alexandria Simon in 2:21 to win the 132-pound class for her third consecutive title.

'It was really cool to win my third straight title," she said. "It was a good feeling because my sister won, too."

Her sister is Iolani's Teniya Alo, who pinned Baldwin's Taylor Rabara in 2:24.

Teshya, however, might not return for her fourth crown. A high school All-American, Teshya might forgo her senior year to train at the Olympic Training Center.  Her goal is to be an Olympic wrestler.

"We'll see how things go when I have training camps on the Mainland," she said.  "I'm still thinking I love Hawaii so much, I want to say home. I really want to go because I know that's how I'll get better because there's more people there, but I don't want to go because my heart will always be here."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].