Good luck and best wishes to the six members of the Girls Varsity Wrestling team who have been invited to participate in the second NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Invitational in Syracuse, which takes place on Friday, Jan. 26 at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College.
Seventh-grader Amelia Patzelt will compete in the 94-pound weight class; sophomore Keira Filip, 107-pound weight class; freshman Sara Pauls, 114-pound weight class; sophomore Jaida Macaluso, 132-pound weight class; freshman Brooke Besson, 145-pound weight class; and junior Patricia Deslandes, 235-pound weight class.
NYSPHSAA is bringing together 208 girls from its member schools around the state to compete in 13 weight classes. Each weight class will consist of 16 girls wrestling through to an individual invitational championship or competing in wrestlebacks to sixth- place. Currently, 11 sections in the NYSPHSAA membership have girls participating in wrestling, six of which have all-girls teams within their sections.
This is the second girls invitational tournament that the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) has sponsored. This past October, the recommendation of the NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Committee was approved and NYSPHSAA will hold its first-ever state championship in the 2024-25 school year. This decision met NYSPHSAA’s championship philosophy of having a minimum of four teams in six sections. Already, there are four teams in seven sections.
“These six wrestlers were selected by the NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Committee and will represent Section IX,” said Athletic Director Tim Bult. “They were selected because of their skill, grit, mental toughness and success and commitment to this sport. We know they will represent Minisink Valley with distinction. We look forward to next year, when girls wrestling will join other NYSPHSAA sports and have a state championship tournament.”
The tournament will have a 16-person bracket and will be run on eight mats. It will be held one day before the 2024 Dual Meet Championships at the same venue.
To watch via the NFHS Streaming Network, click here for details: NFHS Network