Jazmyn Enriquez made a decision after losing in the 97-pound weight class semifinals last year.
She decided to kick tail. Now a junior, she is the top seed in this year’s 97 weight class at the Texaco/HHSAA Girls Wrestling State Championships. Campbells Enriquez defeated Jaysha Cachuella of Kapolei in preliminary-round action on Wednesday morning at Blaisdell Arena.
Enriquez will meet Sarah Obra Nakata of Punahou in a quarterfinal matchup later today. They know each other fairly well. Enriquez lost to Obra Nakata twice in 2017, then was ousted in the state semifinal round by her last year. It was then that the Saber wrestler made a profound change.
“I got beat up a lot last year. My cardio was really bad. It was only my second year,” Enriquez said. “I was a seasonal wrestler. After semis, I made a promise that I’d keep working.”
Enriquez joined Ewa Wrestling Club and made wrestling her life, not just her hobby. She also began power lifting at 24-Hour Fitness. She does a lot of power cleans with light weights, but has a squat of 245 pounds, roughly 2.5 times her body weight.
“Power lifting helps with explosiveness,” she said.
When the 2019 season began, she met Obra Nakata in the Paani Invitational at Punahou. She pinned the Buffanblu wrestler.
“It was a weird pin,” Enriquez recalled. “That was my motivation.”
LIVE BLOG: 2019 State Wrestling
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