North Tonawanda Trio, Iroquois’s Thomas Shine at 4th Intersectional Girls Wrestling Championships

Feb 18, 20233 min read

Twelve individual champions were crowned out of a field of nearly 80 high school wrestlers at Saturday’s 4th Annual Intersectional Girls Wrestling Championships at Chautauqua Lake High School.

The Intersectional tournament was first held in the 2018-20219 season at Niagara County Community College before heading to Brockport State in 2020. The tournament returned in 2022 and was hosted by Chautauqua Lake.

The 2023 Championships against featured 78 wrestlers representing sections VI, V, IV, III, and Msgr. Martin member schools.

The North Tonawanda trio of juniors Hannah McCarley, Brenna McCarley, and Doris Baker all captured individual weight class titles for the Lumberjacks while Iroquois freshman Michaela Thomas stood out as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.

At 107-pounds, Hannah earned a semifinals technical fall before earning a pin in the title match in under a minute to capture her first Intersectional title. Hannah was also a 4th place finisher in the 1st NYSPHSAA Girls Invitational on Jan. 27 in Syracuse.

In the very next weight class at 114, Brenna earned a first period finals pin to capture her first Intersectional title and a 2-0, two pin day.

NT got its third champion of the day in the combined 185/285-pound weight class with a 2-0, two pin day from Baker. Baker earned a pin with only thirty seconds left in the title match to claim her first Intersectional title.

Iroquois freshman Michaela Thomas was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in winning the 152-pound bracket. Thomas opened with a pin in the semifinals.

In the final, down 4-2 with time running out in the third period, Thomas was able to turn Lewiston-Porter’s defending Intersectional champion Meghan Edwards for enough near fall criteria to earn three points and the 5-4 victory as time expired.

Both Thomas and Edwards placed at the state girl’s invitational in January. Thomas was 3rd at 152, Edwards 5th at 145 in Syracuse.

In total, six athletes representing Niagara County schools claimed individual Intersectional titles on Saturday.

Niagara Wheatfield 7th grader and NYSPHSAA Girls Invitational champion Gabriella Barone captured her first Intersectional title pinning her way to the 100-pound bracket championship to go 3-0 on the day. Barone was also a 6th place finisher in the Section VI Division I Championships on Feb. 11.

Lewiston-Porter senior Gwyneth Edwards cruised to the 138-pound Intersectional title with a 2-0, two pin day to improve on last year’s 3rd place finish at Chautauqua Lake. Edwards finishes out her Lancers career as a 4x place winner at the Girl’s Intersectional Championships.

State girl’s invitational 3rd place winner Ava Bragg from Lockport earned the 165-pound Intersectional title with a 2-0, two pin day on Saturday with a first period pin the title match.

West Seneca West junior Christina Evans repeated as an Intersectional tournament champion in another strong performance with a pin and technical fall in head to head matches for the 145-pound title. Evans was a runner-up at the NYS girl’s invitational in January as well.

Also winning Intersectional titles on Saturday were St. Mary’s Louisa Martin at 94-pounds and Chautauqua Lake’s Mia Smith at 132.

Martin went 2-0 on the day and toughed out a very close 2-1 decision in the lightweight final to capture the individual title.

CL’s Smith earned a quarterfinals pin followed by a 9-3 decision in the semifinal to reach the title match for the second straight year. A late third period, come from behind pin over Gowanda’s Ke’ya Stevens landed Smith 1st place in the 132-pound bracket.

Section V wrestlers Alexis Knickerbocker from Hornell and Destiny Latimer from Livonia rounded out the champions with individual titles in the 120 and 126-pound weight classes, respectively.

**4th Annual Intersectional Girl’s Wrestling Championships place winners**:

**102**

1st: Louisa Martin (St. Mary’s)

2nd: Anabelle Wessel (Alexander)

3rd: Alyssa Adair (Alexander)

**100**

1st: Gabriella Barone (Niagara Wheatfield)

2nd: Jasmine Brucato (Honeoye Fall-Lima)

3rd: Leah Waite (Fredonia)

4th: Akasha Nunnally (East Syracuse-Minoa)

**107**

1st: Brenna McCarley (North Tonawanda)