Chautauqua Lake's Noli Paddock dominates Jada Lee of Monroe Woodbury-IX in the 132-pound third-place match at the first-ever New York State Public High School Athletic Association girls wrestling championship at MVP Arena in Albany on Thursday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

ALBANY — There were 208 girls that made history competing in the very first New York State Public High School Athletic Association girls wrestling championships at MVP Arena on Thursday.

Chautauqua Lake freshman Noli Paddock and Dunkirk junior Jaslieen Salgado made the trip even more special by reaching the podium in the inaugural event.

“It’s really exciting,” Paddock said about making the podium. “I have prepped a lot for this, it’s been a long journey. Had a hard loss throughout the season, just kind of came back and gave my best here.”

“We talk a lot about history in our room,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Pete Dorman added. “Her being able to be on the podium is historic, especially for our program being one of the first ones in the entire state, to be able to have someone on the podium for the first one is awesome.”

Starting the event with a pair of wins, both Paddock and Salgado reached the semifinals and with that a guarantee of wrestling for a spot on the podium.

Dunkirk's Jaslieen Salgado holds her sixth-place medal at 235 pounds in the NYSPHSAA girls wrestling championship at MVP Arena in Albany on Thursday. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“Anything is possible and I just try to keep that in mind,” Paddock added. “You’ve got to stay strong.”

Both wrestlers were upended in their semifinal bouts, but it was the 2-seeded Paddock who was able to bounce back in the 132-pound consolation bracket after a heartbreaking 16-15 semifinal loss to 3-seed Taylor Aiello of Huntington-XI. Falling down 16-9 to Aiello, Paddock was able to rally back six straight points, but the time just ran out for her shot at No. 1.

“We’re proud of Noli,” Dorman stated. “She climbed up a spot from where she was at last year at the invitational. She lost a tough one in the semis by one point, to be able to battle back and show the mental toughness and clim to third place says a lot about her hard work and dedication.”

That momentum in the end of her semifinal bout carried over to wrestlebacks as she defeated Brielle Nels of Homer-III with a technical fall 13-2 to reach the third-place match. Paddock was just as dominant in her final match of the season with another technical fall defeating Jada Lee of Monroe Woodbury-IX 11-1 to reach the podium at the first girls state championship.

“Thank you to my coaches,” Paddock said about her performance. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without everyone and it was just a good learning experience.”

The 132-pound state title was eventually won by Mia Collins of Burnt Hills/Scotia/Ballston Spa-II with an 8-0 win over Aiello.

While Paddock missed her ultimate goal of winning a championship she will have three more chances to get back and get the job done.

“It’s exciting,” Paddock said about her future and hopes to improve. “Every year I’m going to try and climb to the top as everyone does. It’s just a good opportunity. It was new, but as far as learning went, I think I learned a lot.”

Paddock’s first two victories were very dominant decisions, pinning Melania Turano of Bay Shore-XI at 1:20 and then posting a technical fall over Josie Lamb of Canandaigua-V 13-1. She finishes the season with a 46-2 record at 132 pounds and third place in the state.

That was not the case for Salgado who had to defy a deficit with a pin to secure a victory and her trip to the 235-pound semifinal. In her first bout, No. 5 Salgado defeated No. 13 East Rochester’s-V Grace Bishop in the first round at 1:31, but in the quarterfinals she was pushed to the limit by Naomi Gonzalez of Valley Stream North-VIII.

“She is a mentally tough kid,” Dunkirk head coach Connor Aitcheson said about Salgado. “When the chips are on the table she is able to pull through and make it happen for herself. She’s got that determination and that drive to push through and see success.”

Salgado was down 6-1 before she was able to finally take down Gonzalez scoring four points before securing a pin at 2:42.

“We’re very proud of her,” Aitcheson said about Salgado’s season. “This is her second year of wrestling and first in freestyle. We’re extremely proud of the progress we’ve seen in her and that’s a testament to her effort and determination. Her teammates push her constantly, we have a good group of girls and it’s very rewarding as a coach to sit back and see their efforts be put on display.”

Looming in the semifinals for the Dunkirk junior was the top-seeded and eventual state champion Peyton Mullin of Dundee-V and she showed why her record was perfect with a quick pin in 12 seconds. Mullin went on to defeat Mia Flores of MacArthur-VIII in the final by pinfall at 0:25.

Salgado then suffered two more pins from Ava Gregg of Shaker-II at 0:28 and then to Section VI champion Khamya’J Maxwell of Lockport at 1:26 for sixth place. She finished the season with a 26-14 record at 235 pounds and finished sixth in the state.

“It’s definitely a testament to the people who put the work in to make this happen at the section level and state level,” Aitcheson said about states. “To have this opportunity for our girls is incredible, we’re happy to be apart of it and very proud of the pretty notable numbers we had this year. We just hope to see it grow.”

While no local girls reached the state final, Section VI did have one champion as Michaela Thomas of Iroquois grinded out an 11-6 win at 165 pounds against top-seed Teagan McGuiness of Union-Endicott-V.

Paddock and Salgado were ultimately the only local girls to reach the podium, but several of the 10 representatives found themselves in the hunt after a few matches.

Both of Fredonia’s Kim Bauer and McKella Hodkin secured prequarterfinal victories, but second-round losses sent both girls into the consolation bracket with a tougher road to the podium.

Bauer, the Silver Creek junior, entered as the 2-seed at 185 pounds and picked up a technical fall over Bellport’s-XI Miiko Foster 14-4 before her first loss to Nyack’s-I Emily Rodriguez at 0:40 while she was looking to roll Rodriguez for points and found herself on her back. She responded with a pin over Kyleigh Kershner of Bellport-XI at 1:38 in wrestlebacks, but missed the podium because of a pin from Marissa Crofoot of Fulton-III at 4:08.

Hodkin, the Fredonia eighth-grader picked up prequarterfinal pin over Gianni King of Middletown-IX at 1:53, but she lost her Section VI 145-pound final rematch to Frontier’s Avery White by another 10-0 technical fall. She posted another victory in the wrestlebacks as she pinned Ja’Niyah Simmons of Canandaigua-V at 5:20, however, her podium bit was cut short with a 10-0 technical fall loss to Gabriella Schectman of MacArthur-VIII.

Chautauqua Lake picked up another first-round win with Panama freshman Lilly Hyde, but she certainly had to work hard for it. The 152-pound 2-seed found herself in trouble against No. 15 Melina Georgas of Suffern-I as she trailed 12-8 with 15 seconds left, but Hyde took down Georgas and managed to pull out a pin with four seconds left.

Hyde was unable to find that magic again in the quarterfinals when she fell to No. 10 Kiara Richard of Shaker-II in a 9-0 loss. Then in wrestlebacks she could not rally back from down 4-0 to Keishara Tulloch of Uniondale-VIII, falling 4-2, finishing her season with a 34-3 record at states.

Gowanda’s Kiernan Quinn came out of the same bracket as Hyde, but even with a first-round loss she clawed at hopes of a spot on the podium.

After being pinned by Gabriella Gonzales of Phoenix-III at 2:45, Quinn responded with a win over Asana Barham of Monroe-Woodbury-IX by pinfall at 1:04 in wrestlebacks. She then posted an even quicker pin against Kiara Davidson of Johnson City-IV at 0:41, but the road ended right after that with a 13-3 technical fall against Tulloch.

Quinn finishes the season with a 19-7 record at 152 pounds.

Just like Quinn, another four local girls lost their opening matches, but had the grit to not leave the MVP Arena empty handed securing at least one win each.

“For Chautauqua Lake, we brought a good group of girls,” Dorman said about the local wrestlers. “Everybody we brought one at least one match, Noli ended up third, the other girls went 1-2. As a section we brought a fantastic team, we’ve got seven wrestling for third place, Michaela (Thomas) in the finals, but as a section we’ve brought a great team.”

At 94 pounds, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Anastazia Hale lost her opening match against Olivia Anello of Bellport-XI via pin, but rallied back with a technical fall over Kolbie Furman of Minisink Valley-IX 10-0 and then a pin over Madeline Palulis of Salem-Cambridge-II at 2:14.

Chautauqua Lake’s Kassidy Benedetto first loss to Palulis, but then managed a pin over Uniondale’s-VIII Giselle Espinoza. Benedetto’s tournament ended the following match with a pin by Anello. Benedetto wraps up the year with one win at states and a 28-9 record at 94 pounds.

Hale’s chance at the podium for Cassadaga Valley came to an end with a 12-2 technical fall by Tatiana Alexander of Eastchester-I. She finished the day 2-2 and with an 11-4 record at 94 pounds.

Chautauqua Lake’s Kortlyn Fairbank was pinned by Fairport’s-V Brooke Agnone to begin her day at 100 pounds, but responded with a 10-0 technical fall over Genesis Garcia of White Plains-I. Fairbank’s season ended with a pin by Alianna Lyon of Mechanicville/Stillwater-II at 0:58. Fairbank ended with a win at states and a 27-15 record at 100 pounds.

At 126 pounds, Fredonia eighth-grader Braelynn Wicks suffered an opening loss to Caitlin Maragioglio of Bellport-XI by technical fall 10-0. Wicks answered with a pin over Kelly Mahecha of Arlington-I at 2:42, but her season was ended by Alivia Cartwright of Keshequa-V 2:53. Wicks picked up one win at states and a 23-14 record at 126 pounds this season.

The first-ever state champions in girls wrestling in New York are Samantha Massey of Mount Markham-III at 94 pounds, Laila Builes of Port Chester-I at 100 pounds, Charlie Wylie of Port Jervis-IX at 107 pounds, Teegan Sibble of Bolivar-Richburg-V at 114 pounds, Haley Gonzales of Hicksville-VIII, Julianna Hernandez of Rocky Point-XI at 126 pounds, Mia Collins of Burnt Hills/Scotia/Ballston Spa-II at 132 pounds, Isabella Satalino of Columbia-II at 138 pounds, Ava Guilmette of Shenendehowa-II at 145 pounds, Victoria Alvarado of Warwick Valley-IX at 152 pounds, Michaela Thomas of Iroquois-VI at 165 pounds, Emily Rodriguez of Nyack-I at 185 pounds and Peyton Mullin of Dundee-V at 235 pounds.

“The future for girls wrestling is unlimited,” Dorman stated. “It’s the fastest growing sport in the country. For us specifically, for Chautauqua Lake our entire team is mostly 10th grade and younger. Two or three years from now we’re going to have a bunch of girls here.”