Inaugural Long Island girls wrestling tournament a big success

Girls wrestling is beginning to flourish on Long Island. With more than 50 girls competing in the inaugural Long Island girls wrestling championship, this event was a testament to that statement.

The Long Island girls wrestling championship was held on Saturday at Rocky Point. After a Suffolk girls championship was held two years ago, the event underwent an expansion this year to include wrestlers from Nassau. Some of Long Island’s best girls put on stellar performances.

Mora Peterson of Islip earned first place in the 102-pound class. Julissa Fonseca of Central Islip was her opponent in the round robin final. This was the third time the two faced off, with Peterson coming up victorious each time.

"It’s just a mindset, I came in here thinking I needed to be at the top of the podium," Peterson said. "She’s really tough, so three times is really something."

Yianna Foufas of Mepham pinned Ava Capogna of Rocky Point at 3:29 in the 118-pound final. Foufas controlled the match throughout and stuck to her game plan to pull out the victory.

"My number one goal was to stay calm; I didn’t want the nerves to get to me," Foufas said. "I knew if I could remain calm that I would win it."

Gianna Amendola of Rocky Point defeated Taylor Aiello of Glenn, 8-6, in the second overtime period to earn first place in the 126-pound class. Amendola was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.

"It feels so good to be named champion at the first ever girls Long Island championship," Amendola said. "This is just such a good opportunity at starting off for us girls and I hope girls wrestling just keeps growing."

Gabrielle Baker of Bay Shore overcame injury to defeat Hauppauge’s Julia Mullane, 7-3, in the 132-pound final. Baker hyperextended her elbow during practice and has been nursing the injury. And during the match she felt the injury once again flare up.

"During the match I felt it hyperextend again and I just tried to not use my left arm as much," Baker said. "I wanted to stop for a second, but when I looked at everyone cheering me on, I knew I wanted to win it not just for myself, but for everyone there for me."

Copiague’s Darlin Delcid defeated Valley Stream North’s Nyla Phillips, 6-4, in overtime in the 145-pound final.

"It feels so great to be here, it was so much fun," Delcid said. "I just hope more girls decide to give this a try, because wrestling is an amazing sport."

Adrianna Eberhardt pinned Helen Castillo in 3:30 an all-Sachem East 160-pound final. The two "best friends" were forced to put their friendship aside as they clashed in the final match of the day.

"I’m glad to see this growing, I feel like when I first started there were no girl wrestlers," Eberhardt said. "Now here I see that there are a lot more girls and that is honestly just amazing."