Kamehameha senior Kayla Araki lay on a Las Vegas wrestling mat dejected and defeated, and, by her own admission, sportsmanship wasn’t first and foremost on her mind.
Kamehameha senior Kayla Araki lay on a Las Vegas wrestling mat dejected and defeated, and, by her own admission, sportsmanship wasn’t first and foremost on her mind.
Until she got heckled.
“My body felt dead and I wanted to quit,” Araki said, “but someone yelled at me.”
Araki, who was joined by a handful of supportive Warriors’ teammates, would go on to finish second at the amateur national wrestling tournament in late October, but as she prepares to embark on her final BIIF wrestling season and another relentless push for elusive state gold, it’s the snapshot of that moment that she lay on the mat that she remembers most.
A male voice she didn’t recognize, perhaps a relative or friend of the girl she lost to, shouted for her to get up.
It was a blessing, because Araki decided to pick herself up off the mat.
“I told myself, don’t be a poor loser,” she said. “I hugged my teammates, put on a smile and had to suck it up.”
Araki’s decision to thank her opponent’s coach, Andy Cook, was a good one. Cook is starting the wrestling program at Grays Harbor College in Aberdeen, Washington, and he told Araki he was interested in recruiting her, citing Araki’s positive attitude.
“I’m kind of a crybaby when it comes to losing,” she said. “I had to really pull myself together to talk to him.”
Wrestling in a higher weight class than she is used to, Araki reeled off three more wins in the consolation round, finishing 5-1 – four by pins – at the tournament, and she dominated the second-place match. Her lone loss came in a 10-8 decision to the wrestler who ended up winning the 160-pound division.
The jump in weight represented a challenge that could be a future benefit for Araki, who won BIIF gold, her third, last season at 145 before finishing third at the HHSAA championships. She won bronze at states as a sophomore at 132.
“I was kind of out of shape,” she said. “I couldn’t just use my strength as I do against most girls. I felt they were just as strong as me.
“I had to become more technical.”
There’s plenty of time before the first BIIF wrestling meet of the season Jan. 7 at Kealakehe, and Araki and her coaches aren’t sure in what weight class she will compete, though the 155 division holds intriguing possibilities.
Last preseason, Araki ruled the 155 class at Punahou’s Paani Challenge, beating the wrestler who would go on to win the state final, Leilehua’s Kelani Corbett.
One thing is clear. Only state gold will suffice for Araki, especially after she got a taste of what it feels like to be a champion when she won state judo gold (154) in May.
“I think wrestling is a much more competitive sport,” Araki said. “A lot more girls do the sport.
“It would mean more.”
The BIIF could use Araki’s help. The league hasn’t produced a state gold medal winner the past three years, its longest drought since 1979-81. The slide extends to Welina Tong’s 175 title for Kamehameha in 2013.
While Araki can match Tong’s accomplishment, she admits it still bothers her that she can’t match the dominant legacy of 2012 Kamehameha graduate Megan Aina, who went 8 for 8 in pocketing BIIF gold in wrestling and judo.
Concussion symptoms kept Araki from competing in the BIIF judo finals her freshman year.
“It really upset me for the longest time,” Araki said. “Now I tell myself at least I can go 7 for 7.”
As she strives toward her goals, she’ll carry a newfound attitude spurred, in part, by a heckler, whoever it was, on a Las Vegas wrestling mat.
“That really lit a fire under my butt,” Araki said. “I want to give opponents a hug. He helped me realize that is the mentality I want to have.”