PRORODEO Sports - April 24, 2026 Digital Edition

The flag hasn’t been back in the arena since. But now another Hawaiian from Cabral’s hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, is making waves in steer wrestling, Trisyn Kalawaia. The 23-year-old has dreams of carrying ‘Ka Hae Hawai’i’ during the NFR grand entry for the first time in a decade. “That’d mean everything,” Kalawaia told the PRORO DEO Sports News. “That’s what I’ve been telling myself this year and the past couple years that my goal is to get that Hawaiian flag back in the Thomas & Mack and repre sent Hawaii. I’ve got a lot of good family and friends who support me back home. And for me to go and represent Hawaii would be pretty awesome.” Kalawaia bought his PRCA card in 2022 and finished second in the 2023 Resistol Rookie of the Year race behind Cash Robb with $51,806. He ended the season 34th in the world standings. In 2024, Kalawaia moved within striking distance of his first trip to Las Vegas, finishing 20th in the world with $76,885. And last season he finished 25th with $76,189. This year, he is off to the best start to a season in his young career. As of April 24, was top 10 in the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings with $39,726. “Making the NFR has been a dream since I was a little kid,” Kalawaia said. “Now I feel like I’m in the right spot with good horses and I’ve been going (down the road) with good guys. It’s one of those deals where I need to go out there, stay focused, just keep going, being consistent and taking it seriously. It’s been good so far.” This season, Kalawaia is primarily riding two horses. Cletus, owned by Trevor and Jenna Duhan, and his per sonal horse, Rolex. Tristan Martin is his traveling partner and hazer. Cabral first met Kalawaia at a Hawaiian rodeo in their hometown when he was in college, and the rising star was just 10 years old. The duo got paired up in the team roping at the Panewa Rodeo Stampede on the Big Island. After their first meeting, Cabral practiced steer wrestling with Kalawaia when he returned to the Aloha State on holidays. “We don’t have any of the training tools or at least we didn’t for the steer wrestling because it’s not really a big event there,” Cabral recalled. “So, I kind of taught him how to slide the stick when he was a freshman (in high school), and we’d chute dog. We tried to bulldog. Even in those early days, Cabral saw the potential and natural ability of Kalawaia. “In Hawaii, you’re raised with a lot of ‘don’t give up and don’t let go’ and a lot of toughness,” Cabral said. “Early on, he had that kind of naturally forced on him. We don’t let go. You get drug around or whatever. He had a lot of try and a lot of effort. Even looking at him now, he’s super athletic and could probably do whatever he wanted.” Kalawaia is proud of where he’s from and the cowboy culture in Hawaii that most people on the mainland don’t think of when they reference the tropical paradise. But he moved to the mainland in 2020 when he finished school to pursue a career in rodeo. “When I was rodeoing in Hawaii, I didn’t really know

that you could rodeo in the mainland and do it full time,” he said. “When I first came out for the Junior High School Finals Rodeo and the (National) High School Finals Ro deo, it really opened my eyes and made me want to do it. That’s why I decided to come up and rodeo full time.” The move has paid off so far. On Feb. 7, Kalawaia shared the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo steer wrestling cham pionship with Bridger Andersen to earn the distinction as the first Hawaiian to win a buckle at the historic rodeo.

28 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE APRIL 24, 2026