WAIMEA — A couple of Kauai’s young wrestlers will soon compete on the national stage.
Westside Wrestling Club’s Matt Tamanaha and Jolette Miner-Ho will join Team Hawaii and take part at the USA Wrestling Junior Nationals, which begins July 12 in Fargo, N.D.
“The way it works is each state has a national team for the tournament. So, you got Team Hawaii, Team California, Team Iowa, team whatever,” Tamanaha said during practice Thursday night. “You qualify, you’re on the team, and you get the cool, nice, fancy stuff or whatever. But the competition is what’s really awesome. … And that’s another thing that’s great about. You don’t have to be part of some invite-only club. You just have to show yourself, get out there and do it.”
For Tamanaha, 18, a recent graduate from Kauai High School, this will be his second time at the national tournament.
Tamanaha clinched a spot by winning his weight class in one of the qualifying tournaments.
“I went to the very first qualifier (on Oahu), and there was no one else in my weight class,” he said. “By default, I got a place in the 138 weight class. It was pretty lucky by chance, but I’m still looking forward to going over there and competing.”
Tamanaha said he learned some hard lessons the last time he was in Fargo. Then, he competed in the 126 weight class.
He aims to at least place this time around.
“I saw the competition last year and got my butt handed to me over there,” Tamanaha said. “This year, I’m looking to go back there and be better, at least. … I think the big takeaway for me was that, you can work so hard on the mat every single day, and there’s still going to be somebody that’s better than you. You can always end up getting paired with someone that ends up placing. You never know. You just got to train as hard as you can, and that’s the beauty of wrestling.”
For Miner-Ho, an upcoming junior at Kapaa High School, this will be her first time competing at nationals. It is also her first time entering a tournament on the Mainland.
She will compete in the 138-pound weight class.
“I’ve watched a few Fargo matches, a few of the weight class that I’m going to wrestle in. But, that’s about it,” Miner-Ho said. “I try not psych myself out when I’m watching the matches. It’s pretty intense.”
Miner-Ho said she didn’t have to qualify as Tamanaha did because more spots are available in the girls divisions.
With this being her first time there, she just wants to do her best, learn new things and see how she stacks up against new competition.
“I’m really excited for the fight there. I mean, it’s nationals,” she said. “It’s normal to be nervous, but I’m excited, too. I’m more excited to be able to learn, get new experiences and see what it’s like on the Mainland. I understand that it’s very different from here. I’m just excited to get new experiences and see what I can take from it.”
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
