Arabella Quintanilla plans to go to Colorado School of Mines to study biochemistry and biomedical engineering. But while she’s there she has another goal: Get the school to start a women’s wrestling team.

She is one of the top wrestlers in the state, and her math teacher Kyleigh Bloyd said Arabella is insightful, strategic and determined in everything she does, whether sports, academics, chorus, helping in the community. She excels at mentoring younger women with their sports goals.

Wrestling is still a male-dominated sport, but more schools now have women’s teams. This year, there were a few young women at Fountain-Fort Carson High School who wrestled. The numbers had decreased with COVID slowdowns.

Quintanilla thrives on the sport with its demanding conditioning, lifting weights, complex techniques, courage and ability to pick oneself up over and over after being thrown to the gym floor. She has been sore, but has had no serious injuries.

Several years ago, she took a girl’s jujitsu survival course and loved that, becoming proficient. She thought wrestling would be a new challenge.

“Wrestling is much faster, enough to creep into my brain and challenge me psychologically,” Quintanilla said. “The hardship helps you push on in other things like calculus and my (Advanced Placement) classes.”

She was talented enough to make it to the state women’s wrestling championship in Denver in February. She lost her first match, won the second. It felt “almost unreal” to raise her hand in victory for that match, she said. But then, she lost the third match.

It was the last match of her high school career, and she fought back tears. Her coach told her to keep her head up and reminded her that her last year’s goal for this year was to make it to the state championship. She had attained that.

The coaches always told them: Win or learn. This was her painful learning moment. “I certainly learned about myself, that I could handle disappointment. Later, I thought about all the positive things, the amazing people I met, and learning from them, and how I overcame self-doubt.”

Another lesson she learned was from the so-called Homeless Man of Wahiawa, Hawaii.

Quintanilla had always seen the homeless on that state’s North Shore. “It was sad and I always stored snacks in the car in case we came across a hungry person,” she recalled.

But this particular homeless man who wandered town was well-known. People gathered when he played the ukulele and sang. She sometimes saw him sitting on the beach seeming to take in the beauty.

“He did not have a home but somehow he made Wahiawa more home to those who knew him,” she said. Even after he died, he was still remembered.

“He taught me to have a positive attitude and be grateful for what I have. I will always remember him when I’m in good or bad spots.”

Fountain-Ft. Carson High School

College Plans: Colorado School of Mines

Parent(s): Anne and Charles Quintanilla

Other: Lettered in Academics, Superintendent’s Scholars Award, Colorado School of Mines Medal of Achievement in Math and Science, National Honor Society

Arabella Quintanilla

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