Kauai riders shine at state junior high rodeo finals
Kalaheo’s Rylee Rita won state all-around cowgirl as 10 Kauai junior riders competed on Maui, keeping the island’s paniolo pipeline moving.
Kauai’s junior rodeo riders brought home a state title from Maui, with Kalaheo’s Rylee Rita earning State All Around Cowgirl honors at the Hawaii High School Rodeo Association Jr. High State Finals at the Oskie Rice Event Center in Makawao.
Rita led a 10-rider Kauai delegation that included Baelee Dela Cruz, Malia McKeown, Racer Faye, Seaena Davidson, SJ Thronas, Cade Carveiro, Lawakua Palama, Mateo Vegas and Teivan Dela Cruz. Their showing put Kauai front and center in a competition that drew young riders from across Hawaii and tested the island’s next generation of paniolo on a stage far from home.
The results matter because the Kauai district is more than a weekend team. At its season banquet, the district said its program stretches from kindergarten through high school and that 32 riders competed in 12 rodeos over four months. Chase Orsatelli, who was named the youth inductee to the Kauai Paniolo Hall of Fame as the Reserve All-Around Champion for the Jr. High Cowboy division, underscored how the district links competition with cultural continuity.
That pipeline now moves into an even busier stretch. The Hawaii High School Rodeo Association, which says it is celebrating 38 years in Hawaii, lists the High School State Finals for June 2-7 on Hawaii Island, followed by the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Guthrie, Oklahoma, from June 21-27 and the National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Nebraska, from July 19-25. For Kauai riders, the road to those events begins with interisland travel and a schedule that can carry a student from local arena work to state and mainland competition in a matter of weeks.
The Kauai district’s results also fit a recent pattern. In 2024, 13 district competitors went to the Maui state rodeo, and junior riders qualified for nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, while high-school riders advanced to Rock Springs, Wyoming. That track record shows the county’s young riders are not just preserving a ranching tradition; they are proving they can compete at the next level and keep Kauai’s rodeo culture moving forward.
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