SYRACUSE – Prior to 2023, girls wrestlers in New York State had no tournament to call their own.
That changed Friday at SRC Arena when more than 200 wrestlers gathered for the inaugural New York State Public High School Athletic Association Girls Invitational.
And among the competitors was Liverpool freshman Gabby Gonzales, who, not content with her status as a program pioneer, nearly won the first-ever state title handed out at 154 pounds.
In the opening round of the 16-wrestler tournament, Gonzales faced Shaker’s Elizabeth Williamson and pinned her in two minutes, 30 seconds.
Moving to the quarterfinals, Gonzales again got a pin, taking 3:34 to finish off Liberty’s Zoe Kip, leading to a semifinal where, against Waverly’s Elon a Holmes, Gonzales won when Holmes had to default due to injury.
All that was left was a state final against a far more experienced wrestler, Shenendehowa senior Isabella Gretzinger. To her credit, Gonzales lasted all six minutes, though Gretzinger prevailed 13-1.
In all, five Section III wrestlers made the finals, with two of them – General Brown’s Zoey Jewett and Mexico’s Renne Kinikin at 165 pounds – emerging as inaugural state champions. Homer’s Lily Sorenson (185 pounds) and Sherburne-Earlville’s Selina Moore (138 pounds) were also finalists.
Two months of victories and historical milestones had led the Cicero-North Syracuse wrestling team to SRC Arena to face its toughest and most important competition of all.
The Northstars were part of last Saturday’s NYSPHSAA Division I Dual Meet, having earned the spot by winning the sectional Dual Meet title for the first time on Jan. 19.
As it turned out, C-NS’s stay was brief. It fell 54-18 to Starpoint in the opening round and 37-16 to Fairport in the next round, Starpoint going on beat Minisink Valley 35-27 for the championship as Section III’s Central Valley Academy reached the Division II final but lost to Tioga.
As C-NS now prepared to host this Saturday’s sectional Class AA championships, Liverpool prepared to join them after it beat Cazenovia 54-21 last Tuesday at Buckley Gym, and while nearly half the points came from forfeits, there was also some mat success, too.
Owen Atchie, at 172 pounds, pinned John Fowler early in the second period, right before Joe Piscitelli (189 pounds) had a third-period fall over Exazander Sizmer and Jayce Blilss, at 215 pounds, pinned Kaleb Hurley just as the first period concluded.
In less than two minutes, Matthews Bonato-Borges (132 pounds) pinned Bryce Odessa after a 126-pound bout where Samir Amiri pinned Finnegan Smith in the second period. Paolo Munetz (102), Gavin Connelly (118), Connor Kral (160) and Keegan Meyer (285) got those forfeits.
