By Jacob Ervin, Student Reporter
Hawaiian rodeo team member finds new love for rodeo at Northwestern
— and Oklahoma is where he’ll stay
Every weekday, Trisyn Kalawaia finishes his classes and gets ready to go practice wrestling, but his opponents always have two more legs than he does.
Kalawaia is a steer wrestler on the Northwestern rodeo team from Hilo, Hawaii.
Kalawaia is a junior at Northwestern, majoring in agricultural business.
He transferred to Northwestern this year after spending two years at Central Arizona College.
COMING TO NORTHWESTERN
He said his primary reason for transferring to Northwestern was the coaching staff and the school’s commitment to steer wrestling.
“I was always told growing up to surround yourself with who you want to be like,” Kalawaia said. “Here, there are so many people that are good at it and will push you to be better.”
Kalawaia was particularly interested in being coached by Stockton Graves, the head coach for Northwestern rodeo.
Graves was the Central Plains region champion steer wrestler twice and has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo eight times in steer wrestling.
Kalawaia began steer wrestling in ninth grade.
He said he initially did not like the sport and wanted to team rope instead, but was inspired to continue trying by his friend Cody Cabral, who qualified for the NFR in 2016.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
While Hawaii may seem like paradise to most people in Oklahoma, Kalawaia said he actually prefers life here.
“As soon as I’m home for five days, I’m like, ‘Alright, I’m ready to go back,’” Kalawaia said. “Back home, I would do the same thing every day — work and practice. I couldn’t do anything or go to many rodeos.
Now that I’m up here, I’m living the dream. I come up here, and I’ve been doing what I wanted to do since I was small.”
In his free time, Kalawaia works as a farrier, a person who shoes horses and ensures horses are walking correctly.
He explained that his father was a farrier, so he had no choice but to learn growing up. But it has become something he truly enjoys, he said.
After graduating, Kalawaia said he would like to remain in Oklahoma to continue competing in rodeo and eventually accomplish his dream of competing in the NFR.