Paige Respicio was dancing on air last February after her final match at the state wrestling meet.
Bouncing softly up and down with outstretched arms toward her teammates in the Blaisdell Arena audience, the Kamehameha wrestler couldn’t contain her all-out happiness. When the referee finally took her arm to raise it and signal a 15-4 victory in the 138-pound division, it looked more like a dance spin because Respicio couldn’t stay still.
It was the second time Respicio had found nirvana at states, but, without a doubt, the most satisfying of her two championships. That’s because Respicio beat Baldwin two-time state champ Jahnea Miguel, the girl who defeated her 8-1 in the 127-pound state final when they were freshmen two years earlier.
“That’s Paige’s best highlight for me,” Warriors coach Rob Hesia said. “Jahnea is really good. Paige’s mind-set and the way she approached it since the beginning of the season was that she wanted it and to see her accomplish it was a really great thing.”
The next challenge
There is a new mountain for Respicio to climb in her senior year and she is getting close to the summit. The task is to win for the third time at states, and if she can make it to the final against one certain competitor, it could he her greatest high school challenge.
Respicio, who is No. 3 in the Star-Advertiser’s pound-for-pound rankings, is the top seed at 138 in the Texaco/HHSAA Wrestling State Championships, which will run Friday and Saturday at the Blaisdell. The second seed belongs to Baldwin’s Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp, who is No. 2 p4p.
“Hopefully everything works out and they meet in the final,” Hesia said. “It would be an unreal match. Waipuilani is tough, with the same temperament and aggression that Paige has. It could be the match of the tournament.”
Defeating Estrella-Beauchamp, who is also a two-time state titlist, would not be redemption, exactly. Respicio has never wrestled her. But it would atone for a disappointment at the Pa‘ani Challenge in January, when the two were lined up to meet in the 138 final. Respicio didn’t get that far, suffering her second high school loss, by pin, against three-time state champ and No. 1 p4p Nanea Estrella of Lahainaluna in the semifinals. Estrella-Beauchamp then lost in the final, 10-0, to Estrella (who will wrestle at 132 this weekend), her cousin.
“Honestly, I’m just excited to wrestle,” Respicio said before a practice Thursday. “I can’t wait to wrestle and see my result of what I worked through all these years. I’m prepared.”
Learning from the past
Had Respicio been prepared as a ninth-grader, she would be going for the Holy Grail of a fourth state championship.
“Freshman year was hard on me,” she said. “It was my first high school year and I was without my dad, who passed away. He used to always talk to me about states and wrestling for Kamehameha and we would watch videos of Kamehameha wrestlers. He talked to me about being on that mat. And he wasn’t here motivating me and pushing me.”
Her father and former coach, Clifford, however, is still a motivating factor.
“I just gotta push through, do this for my dad,” she said. “Gotta finish strong.”
Respicio may follow her cousin, Ashley Gooman, and wrestle for Midland (Fremont, Neb.) next season. Gooman, a three-time state champ at Kamehameha, is a freshman there. She and Warriors boys wrestler Kysen Terukina, who is going for a fourth state title this weekend, have been Respicio’s training partners since they were young kids. Lately, Respicio has been wrestling against four-time state champ Teshya Alo at practice.
“Paige doesn’t like losing,” Hesia said. “She goes hard against whoever she is against. She has made her partners that are girls good and her partners that are boys good. She’s tough as nails.”
Admittedly, there isn’t much scoring potential when Respicio goes up against Terukina.
“But she makes it difficult,” Hesia said. “She’s real serious and Kysen likes to poke and prod and irritate her. She is always challenging people, challenging the coaches, telling us she’s going to take us down. If we wrestle, she’s trying to take my head off, that type of deal. But she’s always joking, teasing in a nice way, and always sharp on her comebacks.”
The mental game
Respicio believes her mental game is a strength, but once in a great while it’s a weakness.
“I have so much trust in myself that I know once I go on the mat, I will do what I’m supposed to do,” she said. “That’s the most important part about being a wrestler, knowing what you’re going to do and what you’re going to hit. Those very few moments when I’m not there mentally, I feel like everything is falling apart. It’s not, but I just think it is.”
There will be pressure this weekend, but as Hesia noted, wrestling is about preparation, just like it was when Respicio was a freshman.
“Back then, if she prepared a little more, if she trained like she is training now, she would be going for her fourth state title,” the coach said. “You get what you earn in this sport. She’s learned it and prepared herself properly. So, the outcome is the outcome. Whether she’s the state champ or not the state champ, she’s in a good place.”
PAIGE RESPICIO
Kamehameha wrestling
>> Grade: Senior
>> Height: 5 feet 3
>> Weight: 138 pounds
>> College wrestling commitment: Undecided, Midland University (Fremont, Neb.) is atop wish list
>> Possible major/career path: Criminal justice, law enforcement
>> Family: Mother Shaila, father Clifford (deceased), brothers Jacob and Noah
>> Hometown: Ewa Beach
>> State championships: 2 (2019 at 138 pounds, 2018 at 132)
>> ILH championships: 4 (2020 at 138 pounds, 2019 at 138, 2018 at 132, 2017 at 127)
>> Other sports played: Middle school soccer
>> Favorite subjects: English, pottery
>> Favorite book: “Born to Love, Cursed to Feel,” poetry by Samantha King Holmes
>> Favorite TV show: “Grey’s Anatomy”
>> Favorite song before a finals match: “Moment 4 Life” by Nicki Minaj
