Nanea Estrella keeps on chugging.
She needed just 13 seconds to beat Amber Cotter in the 132-pound preliminary round of the Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships on Friday at Blaisdell Arena.
The Lahainaluna wrestler is going for her fourth state title, the biggest prize in Hawaii high school wrestling.
Next up is Marcella Reynolds of Radford in the quarterfinals later today.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” Estrella said after the win. “I’m feeling confident in my team and confident in myself and I’m excited to see how this plays out.”
She is also particularly interested in being a spectator in the 138-pound class if things go a certain way. If the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds make it to the final, it would pit her cousin, second-seeded Waipuilani Beauchamp-Estrella of Baldwin, against top-seeded Paige Respicio of Kamehameha.
“It’s a really good weight class and I’m really excited to see how everything plays out with them, too,” she said. “That’s one of the matches I’m excited to watch (if it happens).”
Asked who she thought might have an edge, Estrella added: “Honestly, I can’t really say. I’m not too sure. They’re both very hard wrestlers and they’re very strategic and they both have strengths. They’re both up-and-up wrestlers and it could go to (either one).”
Earlier in the year, at 132 pounds, the three of them all were entered at the Pa’ani Challenge at Punahou. Estrella prevailed by pinning Respicio in the semifinals and beating her cousin 10-0 in the final.
The three girls — Estrella, Estrella-Beauchamp and Respcio — are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the Hawaii Prep World’s pound-for-pound rankings.
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