Suffolk's girls wrestling county championships moving to bigger stage at Stony Brook University
East Islip’s Makenna Corcoran and Copiague’s Sofia Martinez compete at a dual meet. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Girls wrestling in Suffolk is stepping onto a bigger stage this season.
The girls county tournament semifinals and finals will take place at Stony Brook University on Feb. 15, alongside the boys tournament, according to Tom Combs, the executive director for Section XI, which governs the county's interscholastic athletics,
The change increases the visibility for girls wrestling after last year's inaugural county championship was held at Comsewogue. This year's preliminary rounds for the girls will take place on Feb. 14 at Bellport.
“We will continue to grow the sport of girls wrestling,” Combs said. “The girls will get to compete under the same spotlight as the boys in the bigger venue with the larger crowd. The exposure will open the sport up to more fans. It’s time to make this move.”
Deer Park boys wrestling coach Mike McLaughlin, who serves as the president of the Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Association, said the coaches association supported the move despite resistance among some boys coaches, who McLaughlin said thought it could take away attention from the boys event.
“Not many (coaches) are for it," McLaughlin said. "They feel it’s (the) boys’ time to be center stage. The D-II boys county tournament is even wrestled offsite. We could have considered bringing them to Stony Brook also.
“Change is hard and I get it,” McLaughlin said. “Now we’ll see the best in Suffolk for both on the biggest stage. It’s the evolution of the girls in the sport — it’s good.”
Despite the concerns, Martino Sottile, the director of athletics at Bellport and Suffolk girls wrestling chairperson, said the boys coaches deserve credit for the growth of the girls game.
“Where would we be without all the coaches?” Sottile said. “Without the efforts of Mike McLaughlin there is no county awards dinner for the girls last year. He put it all together and helped guide us through the event. He has been a force behind the growth and the promotion of girls in the sport of wrestling and people should know that. This announcement that the girls will wrestle next to the boys is exciting. It’s another step in the promotion of the sport.”
Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Nassau's governing body of scholastic sports, said a similar change could be coming to Nassau. “We’re considering having the boys and girls wrestle side-by-side at Hofstra in the near future," Pizzarelli said. "We're looking into it. It's the next step."
The Nassau girls wrestling tournament was at Bethpage last year. This year the girls will wrestle for the Nassau crown at Long Beach on Feb. 1.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
