ALBANY –– Groton’s Carmen Bishop and Homer’s Gracie Newman and Brielle Nels all placed at the first New York State Girls Wrestling Tournament Thursday at MVP Arena. Carmen Bishop finished third at 126 pounds, Newman placed fifth at 138 pounds and Nels was sixth at 132 pounds.
Molly Sorenson (152 pounds) also competed for Homer and Phoebe Bishop (94 pounds) and Leontine Evans (235 pounds) represented Groton as well.
There was a New York State Invitational the last two years, but this is the first year enough sections sponsored girls wrestling to justify a NYSPHSAA-sanctioned state tournament.
Carmen Bishop rolled into the semifinals with a 36-second pin and a pin in 2:04. She then dropped the semifinal match by 10-0 tech fall in 55 seconds.
The eighth grader then got down 6-0 early in her next match to Keshequa’s Alivia Cartwright and faced a choice –– give up the final four points and head to the fifth-place match or battle back and get to the third-place match.
She chose the latter.
“I just thought I’ve worked too hard to give up,” Carmen Bishop said. “That’s been my goal for seven years and I wasn’t just going to give it all up because I was tired.”
Carmen Bishop made it a 6-4 match, then pulled off a big slam for four points and made it all pointless by securing the pin with 1:22 left in the first period.
“She’s growing up right before our eyes,” Groton head coach Jayme Evans said.
Her third-place match against Bellport’s Caitlin Maragioglio was back-and-forth, with the Groton 126-pounder battling nausea throughout. Carmen Bishop was slammed twice in the first period and experience visible discomfort, but led 13-10 through one. She slammed Maragioglio with 28 seconds left in the match to go up 20-16, but was taken down with five seconds remaining. The official determined it was a two-point takedown, meaning Carmen Bishop took third with a 20-18 victory.
Carmen Bishop reached the podium after missing the end of last year with an injury. She didn’t get to the top of the mountain like she wanted, but feels she gained a lot Thursday.
“Next year I’m going to show up here and all the nerves that I had are going to be gone,” Carmen Bishop said. “I think this was just a warm-up for me. I’m not even in high school yet, so I think it’s going to be really helpful having that experience.”
Newman took fifth place after winning by forfeit in the fifth-place match over East Rochester’s Talulah Williams-Johnson. Newman pinned Niagara Wheatfield’s Emma Ponzi in 16 seconds to open her day, then lost to Columbia’s Isabella Satalino, the top seed, by pin in 40 seconds. The senior bounced back with a pin in 1:55 over Sleepy Hollow’s Kamile Contreras, a 14-4 tech fall win 49 seconds into the second period over Niagara Wheatfield’s Emma Beckles and a loss by pin in 1:44 to Bay Shore’s Brooke-Lynn Murray.
Newman likes to settle her business early and brought that same energy to the state tournament Thursday. She finished her last season 29-7 with 23 wins by pin, the one tech fall Thursday and five wins by forfeit.
“I try and stay on that mat for the shortest period of time I can,” Newman said. “I don’t want to be out there long.”
Newman started wrestling last year and went 0-2 at the state invitational. The Homer senior couldn’t believe what she’d done after guaranteeing placement following the Beckles win.
“I can’t even put it in words,” Newman said. “It’s insane. It’s just insane.”
“When she won that match to where we knew she was placing, both of us definitely had tears in our eyes,” Homer head coach Anna Cummings said. “I’m just so happy with her improvement both physically and mentally. Gracie’s a very mental wrestler and we have to get her prepared before we go out. That growth from last year to this year has been huge.”
Nels finished sixth after winning her opening match over Valley Central’s Rilee Kinsley by 8-2 decision, losing by pin in 1:02 to Sweet Home’s Sofia Guadagna, winning an 8-6 decision over MacArthur’s Taylor Brock, defeating Shenendehowa’s Kaitlyn Young by 9-0 decision, dropping a 13-2 tech fall in 3:18 to Chautauqua Lake’s Noli Paddock and losing by pin in 1:47 to Guadagna.
Nels rode her defense to success, using strong hips to stuff offensive attacks and circle to get back points.
“As soon as I had my first match I knew these girls are good, their offense is good,” Nels said. “I realized my offense probably wouldn’t be my number one priority, it would be defending. Eventually, those points rack up.”
Nels reached the podium in her eighth grade season and first year on the varsity wrestling team. She won 14 matches in a row to reach the tournament and Cummings has seen her new star develop a lot this season.
“There’s definitely been a lot of improvement and hard practices,” Nels said. “Really, you’ve just got to get through them and the practices are going to get you to where you can place and you’ve made it.”
Sorenson went 1-2 on the day, losing a 10-0 tech fall to Shaker’s Kiara Richard, beating Suffern’s Melina Georgas by pin in 4:47 and losing by pin in 1:28 to Granville/Whitehall’s Jaymie Landon.
Sorenson couldn’t consistently get to her offense in her second trip to the state’s final tournament of the year. She successfully did in her lone win and was happy to have more success on this trip.
“I was really proud of my win,” Sorenson said. “I’m just proud that I even made it this year.”
Cummings was happy to bring three girls to the state tournament and have two place. After only having Lily Sorenson place the last two years, Thursday was a big step forward for the Homer girls wrestling program.
“I’m beyond proud of the girls and how they showed up (Thursday),” Cummings said. “Being in this environment is intimidating. It’s brand new to everyone and everyone has lots of nerves going on. They definitely stepped up and showed what they do in practice.”
Sorenson and Newman, both returners to the event, felt the scale change going from the invitational at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College to the state tournament at MVP Arena.
“It was definitely way bigger and harder this year compared to last year,” Sorenson said. “The venue made it seem more important and bigger.”
Phoebe Bishop went 2-2 in her first state tournament, winning her middle two matches. The seventh grader, who entered as the No. 3 seed, lost by pin at the end of the first period to Valley Stream’s Tyasia Buxton, beat Rocky Point’s Zoey Hernandez by 10-0 tech fall in 2:49, pinned Brockport’s Mackenzie Miesch 25 seconds into the second period and lost a tight 6-5 decision to Bellport’s Olivia Anello.
Phoebe Bishop led 5-0 through a period, but gave up a takedown midway through the second. She was then lifted and slammed to go down 6-5 with 11 seconds remaining and earned a standup with five ticks left, but couldn’t secure a last-second takedown to win the match.
The seventh-grade standout seemed to get better as she got more comfortable Thursday. She kept her pace up the entirety of each match while her opponents seemed to slow down.
“I was just happy that I tried my best and never stopped wrestling,” Phoebe Bishop said. “I wished for a little bit better of an outcome, but I was OK with the results.”
“Phoebe’s a seventh grader, so it’s kind of hard to judge that when you get under this big dome here and wrestle,” Jayme Evans said.
Carmen Bishop was on the sidelines shouting instructions to her younger sister all day and was happy to share her first experience at states with Phoebe.
“It was really cool because we’re both really young and it’s something we always wanted to do together,” Carmen Bishop said. “It was fun for us to both qualify and go, even if we didn’t fully get what we wanted.”
Leontine Evans did her best to stay alive, willing herself to a pair of wins. She dropped her first match to Valley Stream North’s Naomi Gonzalez by 10-0 tech fall in 1:10, beat East Rochester’s Grace Bishop by pin in 2:46, won by injury forfeit in the second period over Minisink Valley’s Patricia Deslandes and was pinned in 1:07 by Dunkirk’s Jaslieen Salgado.
The senior out-willed her opponents and did all she could to place. Leontine Evans made the tournament after a 7-10 junior season. She turned her career around after a busy offseason and got a chance to compete on the biggest stage.
“This year after my third tournament I was like, ‘OK, I have a shot at states,’” Leontine Evans said. “I was really excited. If you would’ve asked me over the summer after last season, I probably would’ve said you’re crazy.”
“The growth I’ve seen in Leontine in the last year is outstanding,” Jayme Evans said. “It shows that if you put the hard work in you can do whatever you want. Coaching her has been an absolute blessing even though she doesn’t listen to me half the time. Having Clint (Morse) there in the corner helps a lot because she respects him and listens to him a lot.”
Jayme Evans loved watching his three stars compete Thursday and become the first Groton girls at the state wrestling tournament.
“Those three girls have been in pretty much every final all year long,” Jayme Evans said. “I’m so proud of how they wrestled.”
