Bay Shore's Brooke-Lynn Murray, Newfield's Julianna Hernandez claim titles in first Suffolk girls wrestling championships

Brooke-Lynn Murray was overcome with emotion.

The West Babylon junior, who represents Bay Shore, defeated Rocky Point senior Ava Capogna by 6-4 decision in the 138-pound final of the first Suffolk County girls wrestling championship Monday night at Comsewogue High School. When the final buzzer sounded, she immediately let out an echoing roar, matching the reaction of the crowded gym.

Murray and Capogna are two of the girls wrestling pioneers on Long Island. Though both have been wrestling for several years, the two had never wrestled each other.

“I didn’t know that she would go this weight until the middle of this week and it threw me off,” Murray said. “I was doubting myself a lot. My coaches have been telling me, ‘You’re better than you think you are. Use your ability and you’ll know.’ As soon as I won, I believed in myself and that emotion came out.”

Capogna scored two takedowns for an early 4-0 lead, but Murray got her own takedown before the end of the first period. She scored two more takedowns, with the winning takedown coming with 55 seconds left.

Murray won both of her earlier matches by technical superiority — a 12-0 win in 3:49 over Aylin Davila (Town of Huntington) in the quarterfinals and a 10-0 win in 3:13 over Julia Zuchowska (Rocky Point) in the semifinals.

Murray (31-3) is the only girls wrestler from West Babylon. She was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament, which was originally scheduled for Sunday but was postponed due to snow.

“I had a meeting with my principal and my superintendent and they said, ‘In history, you’re going to be looked at as the first girl on a varsity wrestling team.’ To be a county champ in the same year is absolutely amazing,” Murray said.

Murray will have a chance to become one of the first official state girls wrestling champions on Feb. 27 at MVP Arena in Albany.

At 126 pounds, Julianna Hernandez is back and feeling good. The Newfield freshman who wrestles for Rocky Point suffered an ankle injury in December that caused her to miss about four weeks.

Hernandez defeated Bellport senior Caitlin Maragioglio by 8-3 decision for the 126-pound title. Hernandez struggled early to get Maragioglio (24-5) down to the mat but found her footing late in the first period, taking a 4-1 lead into the second.

“She’s very strong and she’s an incredible worker,” Hernandez said. “That was a really good match. I definitely was expecting because I know how great she’s gotten.”

Hernandez (12-1) pinned Sachem North’s Jazenia Rodriguez in 11 seconds in the semifinals. Hernandez’s sister Zoey, a seventh-grader, was the 94-pound runner-up, losing by 10-0 technical superiority in 2:55 to Bellport’s Olivia Anello. Her older sister, sophomore Madison Hernandez, suffered a dislocated elbow in the 145-pound semifinals and was unable to finish the match.

“We worked really hard to place in the counties and hopefully go to states together,” Julianna Hernandez said. “Now she’s out due to an injury and it’s tough. But she’ll be back and better next year.”

Glenn senior Taylor Aiello has watched her brother, Tommy, rack up three county titles and a state championship in the last three years. Now she has a county title of her own. Aiello, who represents Town of Huntington, defeated Bay Shore’s Melania Turano by 10-0 technical superiority in 1:38 for the 132-pound title. Aiello (8-1) was last year’s Long Island champion at 126 pounds.

“I’m really happy they were able to sanction it for my senior year,” Aiello said. “It feels real. Last year, we had the Long Island championships after states. This feels so much better.”