Rocky Point's Julianna Hernandez, Mepham's Yianna Foufas take first at state girls wrestling invitational

SYRACUSE — Thirty Long Islanders entered the second state girls wrestling invitational. Two walked out of SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College with gold.

Rocky Point’s Julianna Hernandez took first place at 107 pounds and Mepham’s Yianna Foufas captured the 120-pound title Friday night.

Hernandez found herself in trouble against Bolivar-Richburg junior Teegan Sibble.

Sibble scored a takedown midway through the second period and held the 2-0 lead until late in the third period.

“I was trying to rush things and I was getting nervous because it wasn’t working out how I wanted it to,” said Hernandez, who wrestles for Rocky Point but is an eighth-grader at Newfield Middle School. “I got taken down in the second period and I started freaking out.”

With just 19 seconds left, Hernandez was able to secure a takedown to even the score. She wasted no time in getting Sibble on her back for three near-fall points to finish a 5-2 decision.

“I saw an opportunity to get her on her back and I took it,” Hernandez said. “I looked at the clock and I said, ‘It’s now or never.’ When I had her on her back, I didn’t know how much time was left and I thought she might flip me back over, but the time ran out and I was relieved.”

Hernandez (20-0) picked up pins in the round of 16 and the semifinals and earned a 16-0 technical fall in the quarterfinals. She took first place at 107 pounds at the Eastern States Classic on Jan. 13.

Foufas was pinned in the 120-pound Eastern States final by Rocky Point senior Alexandra Viera.

Foufas knew there would be a possibility of a rematch in Syracuse and she was confident this round would end differently.

“Alexandra Viera is an extremely tough competitor and we said after that Eastern States match that we’ll see her again in two weeks,” Mepham coach Ken Richards said.

Foufas scored a takedown late in the first period and scored two more in the second, taking a 6-2 lead in the final period. Then she turned up the heat.

“I just kept telling myself to stay calm,” said Foufas, a senior. “When I don’t wrestle calm is when I start to make mistakes. I told myself that I can’t control the outcome, I can only control my effort.”

She earned three takedowns in the third period to put an exclamation point on a 12-3 major decision and her second straight title at the state invitational.

“Coming here again has been in the back of my mind since last year,” Foufas said. “I didn’t even want to celebrate last year because I knew I’d have to do it again.”

It marked Viera’s first loss of the season, as she now sports a 19-1 record.

Foufas, who won last year’s 114-pound title, was joined at 120 pounds by Viera, who was the 126-pound winner last year and Seaford senior Ashley Diaz, who won the 120-pound title a year ago.

Viera defeated Diaz via 8-0 major decision in the semifinals. Foufas beat Brooke Tarshis (Pine Bush) via 11-2 major decision in the semifinals and earned pins in the first two rounds.

Bethpage’s Gabrielle Severin was the runner-up at 100 pounds and Bay Shore’s Mora Peterson took second place at 114 pounds.

Per NYSPHSAA assistant director Todd Nelson, next year will mark the first official girls wrestling state championship tournament, which will be held the same weekend as the boys individual championship at MVP Arena in Albany.

“It’s extremely exciting,” Richards said. “It feels like the whole wrestling community has made this happen. To see the amount of girls wrestlers that are coming out year after year, it’s very exciting.”