It was only one state championship, but it came with a much grander title.
Diesel Del Rosario beat Kamehameha’s Evan Kusumoto 4-3 at the Texaco Wrestling Championships in February, becoming tiny Lanai’s first state champion.
Not just first combat sports champion. He is the first state champion in any sport for a school that began competing in HHSAA tournaments in 1956.
The state title wasn’t a surprise, he had been working at it forever. The call from the Hall of Honor was a surprise, though.
“It was crazy. I was around my family and I thought I wouldn’t be chosen with all of the great athletes,” Del Rosario said. “I kind of still can’t believe it.”
Del Rosario is the youngest of five, with his three MIL championships tripling those of his brothers who made him what he is, motivating him with kind words after sessions of rubbing his face on the mat.
After that upbringing, Del Rosario knew that history wouldn’t be handed to him and he would have to earn it. He stayed at 120 pounds for his entire career, getting knocked out of his sophomore campaign with a concussion in the first round and taking third place as a junior after losing to good friend Kulika Corpuz of Mililani. He never lost again.
He went on a rampage as a senior when he found things had grown a lot more difficult, in theory. His weight class was suddenly stacked with two state champions, Kusumoto and future fellow Hall of Honor inductee Logan Lau of Mid-Pacific. He could have moved up or went down for an easier road, but he didn’t budge.
“I was set on staying at 120 because that was my weight class,” Del Rosario said. “It got harder and harder to cut the weight but I knew I would have to face those guys eventually anyway. It means a little bit more to have to go through those great wrestlers.”
Del Rosario had no trouble reaching the final, where Kusumoto was eagerly waiting after a rough semifinal war with Lau. The Warrior had never lost on the state level and one of the few losses of his career came against Del Rosario in a tight match at the preseason Hawaii Officials Tournament. The Pine Lad never trailed and broke a 2-2 tie with a takedown with 46 seconds remaining on a move he calls ‘double blast’ and rode out the victory in a wild 30 seconds.
He returned home to a parade in his honor, a celebration a half century in the making. He is weighing college options from the likes of Hope International, where he could possibly be the new program’s first national champion, while preparing for the summer wrestling season.
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Meet the 2024 inductees
>> Kamehameha’s Adrianna Arquette
>> Kalani’s Yuta Cole
>> Punahou’s Carly Cormack
>> Lanai’s Diesel Del Rosario
>> Kahuku’s Maia Esera
>> Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Maela Honma
>> Punahou’s Payton Jim On
>> Mid-Pacific’s Logan Lau
>> Hawaii Prep’s Brooke Samura
>> Mililani’s Belise Swartwood
>> Punahou’s Lulu Uluave
>> Kaimuki’s Jeremiah White
