Wednesday was not a good day for Moanalua’s Alana Dela Pena.
The OIA champion and fourth seed in the 184-pound bracket at the Texaco/HHSAA State Wrestling championships, Dela Pena suffered a severe injury in her ankle when she landed wrong while being taken down by Aiea’s Jalyssa Ingram in a first-round match.
Trainers and other responders worked quickly to immobilize her leg, put it in a splint and get her on a stretcher and out of the building to a hospital.
Dela Pena’s mother, Nikki Dela Pena, raved about the job the trainers did.
“Alana is resting after a long day,” wrote Nikki Dela Pena, who is the Moanalua girls soccer coach, in an email Thursday morning to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I can confirm there were no broken bones. Doctors already have a game plan in place toward her recovery.”
It was originally thought that Alana Dela Pena suffered a compound fracture. Coaches on the scene said that her bone came out of the skin.
“I am so very thankful for Lee (Moanalua trainer), who was at the mat with all the other trainers. He made sure she was stabilized, kept talking to her, talking with me, followed up with me. All the trainers are these student-athletes first responders, and I wanted to say thank you to all of you, not just doing their job, but taking care of my daughter. Thank you!”
As the fourth seed, Moanalua coaches had high hopes for Dela Pena to win the state championship.
Glad to hear she is to be ok. She will be back next year.