The 2022 Section 9 Wrestling Championships will once again feature a Girls Only Division. The tournament had a Girls Division in 2020 – there was no Section 9 Wrestling tournament in 2021 due to COVID-19. The number of girls entered in this year’s tournament is nearly twice the number that competed in 2020! This number is going to continue to increase as girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States.
Sanctioning Girls Wrestling
New York State girls have been competing in wrestling for many years now. However, since Girls Wrestling is not a NYSPHSAA sanctioned sport, our female wrestlers have been forced to compete against boys. Have there been girls who have succeeded against the boys? Absolutely! Pioneers like Amy Whitbeck from Section 2 and state finalist Carlene Sluberski from Section 6 paved the way for some of the current girl wrestlers who have made headlines on both the local and national levels. We actually have two girls who are #1 seeds in the boy’s division at this year’s Section 9 tournaments – Charlie Wylie from Port Jervis is the top seed at 102 in the D2 tournament while Minisink Valley’s Sofia Macaluso is seeded #1 at 118 in the D1 tournament. Sofia placed 3rd in the Section 9 tournament as a freshman in 2019. Two years ago, Minisink Valley’s Mia Macaluso placed 4th in the Section 9 tournament at 126 pounds.
We have to stop and think though. How many girls are out there who would love to try the sport of wrestling, but they really are not enamored with the idea of competing against boys? Making Girls Wrestling a NYSPHSAA sanctioned sport will likely open the flood gates for hundreds of girls who are thinking about lacing up the shoes and stepping on the mat – girl vs girl!
The pathway to have the NYSPHSAA sanction girls wrestling has been laid out. It’s pretty straight forward and it is definitely attainable. New York State needs to have four sections with four girls wrestling programs in order to receive NYSPHSAA sanctioning – that is it – four sections with four teams each! In order to have a sanctioned Girls Only state championship tournament there needs to be six sections with four teams each. This can be done, and it can be done quickly! Our Girls Division in the Section 9 tournament is a major step towards this goal!
Take a look below at the schedule for this year’s Section 9 Wrestling Girls Division as well as a quick weight class by weight class preview. The tournament takes place on Friday February 11 at Monroe Woodbury High School.
Tournament Schedule
3:00 – Weigh-ins
5:00 – Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds
6:15 – Finals and Consolation Finals
There is a free stream of the tournament on Friday!
Click here for the link!
Girls Tournament Preview
110 Pounds
Saugerties freshman Savanah Tittlebeck is the top seed at 110 pounds in the girl’s division. Tittlebeck picked up 11 wins this season wrestling at 102 and 110 for Saugerties. The 2nd seed here at 110 in the girl’s division is LilyKate Brosnan from Onteora. Brosnan has picked up six wins but has logged a lot of mat thime this season. The other girls at 110 are Adrianna Gonzales from Fallsburg Tri-Valley, Alexis Castro from Monticello, and Ava Bach from Saugerties.
118 Pounds
Brooke Tarshis is our #1 seed at 118 pounds at the 2022 Section 9 Girls Tournament! The Pine Bush sophomore notched nine wins this season and just finished 5th at the JV Sections last week! In the semis, Tarshis will have to get past the winner of the quarterfinal bout between Alexea Walsh of Rondout Valley and Alma Astras from Chester. If the seeds hold up, Tarshis will face #2 seed Aleah Shron from FDR. In order to get to the finals Shron will need to get past either Angela Smith from Kingston or Veronica Flores from Onteora.
126 Pounds
This 126-pound weight class in the girl’s tournament has two girls entered, Destiny Walsh from Rondout Valley and Citrus Triplett from Red Hook. It is possible that a girl or two may decide to bump up from 118 which will add more depth to this weight. As it stands now, Walsh is the top seed and heavy favorite to win the title here.
132 Pounds
This weight also has only two girls currently entered. It is possible that this changes before the brackets become official after weigh-ins. As of right now we have FDR sophomore Alicia Smith as the #1 seed and Saugerties Gillian Mills as our #2 seed at 132.
160 Pounds
The top seed at 160 in the girl’s division is Elisa Rhodes from Onteora. Rhodes has a 5-3 record for the season with two pins. Her opponent in the semis will be Chester freshman Faith Villanueva. The bottom half of the bracket at 160 will feature #2 seed Zoe Kip from Saugerties and 3rd seeded Kaida Miller from Middletown.
Thank you so very much for this information. I am so proud to see there are more girls taking an interest in wrestling. I was the Head ATC at Roy C Ketcham high school about 24 years ago and we had one female wrestler. She was such a trailblazer in this sport when it wasn’t popular amongst girls. While she endured a lot of ridicule and challenges, she held fast and competed fiercely. We need to support our girls in wrestling and fight for their recognition.
Thank you for your lind words as an 90 RCK grad i had seen very few girls tryout for sports that had no girls’ devisions . Though i knew several that could hang with the boys. I am so pleased to see the recognition these young ladies are getting. Its been a tough 1st yr for my doughter, but one thing learned… she is as tough as they come. Camon ladies show the world what you have
Thank you for your lind words as an 90 RCK grad i had seen very few girls tryout for sports that had no girls’ devisions . Though i knew several that could hang with the boys. I am so pleased to see the recognition these young ladies are getting. Its been a tough 1st yr for my doughter, but one thing learned… she is as tough as they come. Camon ladies show the world what you have