NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Invitational: Tioga's Sindoni, Waverly's LaForest capture titles

Two top seeds from Section 4 delivered dominant performances Friday in the highest-profile high school girls wrestling tournament to date in New York.

Tioga Central senior Emily Sindoni captured the 132-pound weight class and Waverly junior Mackenzie LaForest was champion at 235 pounds at the inaugural New York State Public High School Athletic Association Girls Wrestling Invitational at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.

Those two were among 12 place-winners from Section 4 schools in a one-day tournament that included more than 200 wrestlers from across the state and 13 weight classes.

Girls wrestling remains an emerging sport in New York, but the tournament was a potential precursor to a state championship event if participation reaches a high enough level.

"There was a lot of people here, more than you would expect," Sindoni said in an interview with NYSPHSAA Director of Communications Chris Watson after her finals win. "It's great that it's growing and I'm glad I have this opportunity."

Said LaForest of the event: "It was amazing. It was worth the wait and I can't wait until next year."

Four pins for Sindoni

Sindoni lived up to her considerable wrestling resume by pinning all four of her opponents Friday, starting with a nine-second pin. After two more first-period pins, she captured the championship by pining Zoe Griffith of Gouverneur in 2 minutes, 44 seconds.

In May, Sindoni claimed the 120-pound title at the National High School Coaches Association Nationals in Virginia Beach. She was a runner-up at last year's National Freestyle Junior Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota. Among highlights this season was a title at Elmira's talent-rich Southern Tier Memorial on Jan. 14.

Sindoni is ranked first nationally this season by USA Wrestling.

LaForest caps title with pin

The 235-pound final ended at the 2:59 mark when LaForest pinned Naomi Gonzalez of Valley Stream North.

The closest match for LaForest came in the semifinals, where she beat Gabi Freeburg of Chautauqua Lake by a 2-0 margin. LaForest won by major decision, 12-4, in the first round and by pin in 2:34 in the quarterfinals.

LaForest was also a champion at the Southern Tier Memorial.

Craft, Phelps place third

Third-place finishers from Section 4 were Owego Free Academy's RaeAnn Craft at 114 pounds and Sidney's Isabella Phelps at 107.

Crat pinned Kiera Filip of Minisink Valley in 2:39 in their third-place match. Craft was a champion at last week's Southern Tier Athletic Conference championships, earning Most Outstanding Wrestler honors among the girls.

Phelps took her third-place match against North Tonawanda's Hannah McCarley, 4-0.

Fourth-place finishers from Section 4 were Corning's Jade Cook at 165 and Windsor's Alexis Durdon at 235.

Section 4's sixth-place finishers were Oneonta's Jay Karns (94 pounds) and Leylani Wiltshire (165), Chenango Forks' Kathryn White (120) and Emily Sullivan (138), Waverly's Elona Holmes (152) and Vestal's Keira DeVantier (0:44).

Section 4 Results

94 pounds: First Round – Alyssa Earsing (Alexander) dec. Jay Karns (Oneonta) 7-5; Wrestlebacks – Karns pinned Alyssa Adair (Alexander) 0:24; Karns pinned Lily Pieczonka (Niagara Wheatfield) 4:03; Consolation semifinal – Madeline Palulis (Salem-Cambridge) major dec. Karns, 13-0; Fifth-place Match – Abby Hargarther (Midlakes) tech. fall Karns, 15-0.

100: First Round – Clover Vander Velden (Ward Melville) pinned Abby Sickler (Waverly) 1:21; Kalissa Albright (Niskayuna-Schenectady) pinned Sabrina Strauss (Union-Endicott) 0:40; Wrestlebacks – Alyssa Russell (Holland Patent) pinned Sickler, 0:46; Leah Waite (Fredonia) pinned Strauss, 0:36.

107: First Round – Makayla Matson (Niskayuna-Schenectady) pinned Alaina Gumble (Chenango Forks) 3:52; Isabella Phelps (Sidney) pinned Brooklyn Pyrll (Falconer) 0:24; Quarterfinals – Hannah McCarley (North Tonawanda) major dec. Phelps, 13-5; Wrestlebacks – Gumble dec. Evelin Reyes (Riverhead) 8-6; Ava Zucker (Jericho) pinned Gumble, 3:51; Phelps pinned Natalie Barrios (Waterloo) 0:54; Phelps pinned Brenna McCarley (North Tonawanda) 1:58; Consolation semifinal – Phelps dec. Grace York (Warrensburg/Lake George) 5-2; Third-place match – Phelps dec. McCarley, 4-0.

114: First Round – RaeAnn Craft (Owego) pinned Kaegan Rhodes (Corning) 3:16; Quarterfinals – Teegan Sibble (Bolivar-Richburg) pinned Craft, 1:24; Wrestlebacks – Ophelia Rosenthal-Vincenti (Ward Melville) pinned Rhodes 2:28; Craft pinned Riley Butler (West Genesee) 2:43; Craft pinned Maleah McKinney-Updegraph (Lockport) 3:51; Consolation semifinal – Craft dec. Savannah Tittelback (Saugerties) 3-0; Third-place match – Craft pinned Kiera Filip (Minisink Valley) 2:39.

120: First Round – Brooke Tarshis (Pine Bush) pinned Bella Silvestri (Forks) 1:20; Kathryn White (Forks) dec. Trista Polsinello (Shaker) 5-1; Quarterfinals – White dec. Juliana Smith (Mexico) 6-3; Semifinals – Ashley Diaz (Seaford) pinned White, 0:38; Wrestlebacks – MaKenna Corcoran (East Islip) pinned Silvestri, 3:43; Consolation semifinal – Ava Capogna (Rocky Point) pinned White, 1:47; Fifth-place match – Brooke Walsh (Brockport) dec. White, 6-1.

126: First Round – Isabelle Demillio (John Jay East Fishkill) pinned Narayani Wiehe (Horseheads) 3:27; Melodie Sutton (Marathon) pinned Cassandra Clarke (Fulton) 2:21; Quarterfinals – Alexa Doxey (Newfane) pinned Sutton, 3:33; Wrestlebacks – Jasa Cruz (Coxsackie-Athens) major dec. Wiehe, 13-2; Sutton pinned Cruz, 3:38; Cadence Howard (Bellport) dec. Sutton, 6-2.

132: First Round – Emily Sindoni (Tioga) pinned Addison Snyder (Holland Patent) 0:09; Zoe Griffith (Gouverneur) pinned Hailey Berry (Horseheads) 0:22; Quarterfinals – Sindoni pinned Gillian Mills (Saugerties) 1:16; Semifinals – Sindoni pinned Joan Demetroules (Putnam Valley) 0:59; Wrestlebacks – Berry pinned Ke'ya Stevens (Gowanda) 0:56; Mills pinned Berry, 3:37. Championship final – Sindoni pinned Griffith, 2:44.

138: First Round – Zoey Lints (Duanesburg-Schoharie) pinned Kiara Davidson (Johnson City) 0:27; Aniella Kennedy (Guilderland) pinned Aubrey Dixon (Windsor) 3:24; Emily Sullivan (Chenango Forks) pinned Sophia Gervasio (Chautauqua Lake) 5:22; Quarterfinals – Selina Moore (Sherburne-Earlville) pinned Sullivan 0:58; Wrestlebacks – Avery White (Frontier) pinned Dixon, 2:36; Julia Zuchowska (Ward Melville) pinned Davidson, 2:59; Sullivan dec. Zuchowska, 5-0; Sullivan pinned White, 1:27; Consolation semifinal – Kennedy pinned Sullivan, 1:41. Fifth-place match – Ellanora Bode (Penfield) pinned Sullivan, 2:35.

145: First Round – Maia Woertendyke (Oneonta) pinned Ciara Okoniewski (Fulton) 2:37; Christina Evans (West Seneca West/East) pinned Tayler Pierce (Corning) 3:19; Quarterfinals – Madison Westerberg (Waterloo) pinned Woertendyke, 0:29; Wrestlebacks – Stephanie Grocholski (Holland Patent) pinned Pierce, 3:13; Helena Rodriguez (Rensselaer) pinned Woertendyk, 0:25.

152: First Round – Janessa Santiago (Cazenovia) pinned MayAnna Sindlinger (Horseheads) 3:05; Elona Holmes (Waverly) pinned Juliana Vera (Ward Melville) 3:39; Quarterfinals – Holmes pinned Mikalah Bliss (Red Creek) 1:39; Semifinals – Gabby Gonzales (Liverpool) def. Holmes, injury default (2:15); Wrestlebacks – Singlinger pinned Eva Colon-DeJesus (Dunkirk) 0:27; Zoe Kip (Liberty) pinned Sindlinger, 0:58. Consolation semifinal: Michaela Thomas (Iroquois) by injury default over Holmes; Fifth-place match – Janessa Santiago (Cazenovia) by medical forfeit over Holmes.

165: First Round – Jade Cook (Corning) pinned Freya Hoech (Shenendehowa) 2:54; Leylani Wiltshire (Oneonta) dec. Lilly Parker Ennis (Waverly) 2-1; Kyah Nelson (Tioga) pinned Gianna Scirri (Niagara-Wheatfield) 1:46; Quarterfinals – Tallulah Powers (Berlin/New Lebanon) pinned Cook, 1:36; Wiltshire pinned Mattison Jackson (Salem-Cambridge) 2:16; Renne Kinikin (Mexico) pinned Nelson, 1:28; Semifinals: Powers dec. Wilthsire, 6-2; Wrestlebacks – Ennis pinned Megan Leggio (Bay Shore) 0:49; Cook pinned Nyla Phillips (Valley North Stream) 4:07; Cook pinned Jackson, 4:43; Elle Hutton (Columbia) pinned Ennis, 0:49; Ava Bragg (Lockport) pinned Nelson, 3:46. Consolation semifinals: Cook pinned Elizabeth Rushman (Canandaigua) 4:34; Bragg dec. Wiltshire 5-1. Third-place match – Bragg pinned Cook, 2:22. Fifth-place match – Rushman major dec. Wiltshire, 9-0.

185: First Round – Sophie Pollack (Canandaigua) pinned Abigail Johnson (Thomas A. Edison) 0:23; Emily Barrett (Fulton) dec. Aleesha Marshall (Union-Endicott) 11-6; Marea Palka (Springville-Griffith) dec. Cadence Trinidad (U-E) 10-3; Lilly Sorenson (Homer) pinned Keira DeVantier (Vestal) 0:58; Wrestlebacks – Johnson (TAE) pinned Isabella Benson (Bay Shore) 0:48; Riley Kempston (Fulton) pinned Trinidad, 1:58; DeVantier pinned Hayliegh Southwick (Holland Patent) 2:39; Marea Palka (Springville/Griffith) pinned Marshall, 3:36; DeVantier dec. Alexandra Ruiz (Fallsburg) 6-0; Lineth Rivera (Bay Shore) dec. Johnson, 8-4 (tiebreaker); DeVantier dec. Kempston 6-1. Consolation semifinal – Doris Baker (North Tonawanda) pinned DeVantier, 4:22. Fifth-place match – Khamya J'Maxwell (Lockport) pinned DeVantier, 0:44.

235: First Round – Mackenzie LaForest (Waverly) major dec. Brianna Newton (Niskayuna-Schenectady) 12-4; Alexis Durdon (Windsor) pinned Elisa Bly (Horseheads) 1:12; Quarterfinals – LaForest pinned Athena Hiriram (Pittsford) 2:34; Durdon dec. Patricia Deslandes (Minisink Valley) 2-0; Semifinals: LaForest dec. Gabi Freeburg (Chautauqua Lake) 2-0; Naomi Gonzalez (Valley Stream North) pinned Durdon, 1:42; Wrestlebacks – Kalyn Gould (Granville) pinned Bly, 1:35. Consolation semifinal – Durdon pinned Bryston Branche (General Brown) 0:47. Third-place match – Newton pinned Durdon, 1:00. Championship final – LaForest pinned Gonzalez, 2:59.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: 2 from Section 4 took first at NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Invitational