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Estrella dominates competition en route to U20 Pan-American gold

By Dakota Grossman 3 min read

Nanea Estrella continues to dominate on the wrestling mat while representing her island home and her country.

The four-time state champion from Lahainaluna High School was suited in Team USA gear earlier this month in Oaxtepec, Mexico, as she took home gold at the U20 Pan-American Championships in the women's 59-kilogram division.

"It means so much to me. I know how much the Hawaii wrestling community and just the community in general supports me, and to go out there and make them proud makes me feel full," Estrella said Wednesday. "It gives me an extra reason to fight for my dreams."

All four of Estrella's wins at the Pan-American Championships, held July 8-10, were earned by technical falls. She defeated Peru's Camila Roa Ortega in the opening match 12-0, Canada's Mia Friesen 12-2, Columbia's Tatiana Hurtado Lerma 13-2 and Mexico's Lucero Sanchez Silva 10-0 in the final round.

Estrella was one of three gold medalists for Team USA, which scored a total 189 points to win the team title, followed by Mexico with 177 points and Canada with 159 points.

In May, the USMC Women's Nationals Championships in Texas was held as a trial tournament to qualify for either the World Team (first-place finishers) or the U20 Pan-American team (second-place finishers).

Estrella claimed silver in women's freestyle to earn the opportunity to represent the United States on the junior national team -- the only one from Hawaii.

"Wearing the USA uniform was amazing," she said. "It was the first time I have ever represented the country internationally or even competed internationally, so the whole experience was new and exciting and also very prideful."

The environment at the Pan-American Championship was "unlike any other," she added.

"It was honestly more professional and organized than anything I have seen and the rules were followed to a 'T,' " she said. "The girls I competed with were so awesome and gave me such good matches and different feels, it was something I was definitely expecting but it was a lot more than what I thought."

This week Estrella takes on a different role as coach of a few boys from her club team in Idaho at the 2022 USA Wrestling Junior and 16U National Championships being held in Fargo, N.D.

"I love coaching and helping kids get to a point they need to to compete at the best level they can," said Estrella, adding that she also assisted with three wrestlers from Lahainaluna competing at the tournament, including Naiomi Kulukulualani-Sales, Teani Medeiros-Maielua and Catherine Asami.

In words of advice to all Maui wrestlers back home, Estrella stressed the importance of the mental side of wrestling.

"In this sport the most important thing is the mindset," she said. "The physical ability will come with practice and hours and hours of mat time, but if you don't believe in yourself or do things to give you the extra mental edge when it gets down to a tough match and you need to dig deep, it's a lot harder."

Next month, Estrella completes her move from Menlo (Calif.) College -- where she was an NAIA national runner-up -- to the University of Iowa, where she will join the new Hawkeyes program headed by 2012 Olympic bronze medalist and 2008 world champion Clarissa Chun of Oahu.

"I am so excited to start my journey as a Hawkeye -- wrestling, school and everything -- just the next step," Estrella said.

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

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