Section VII girls' wrestling competes at states

Thursday kicked off the NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championships, and the girls took to the mat first.

NAC/Beekmantown wrestler Paisley McDonald had the best performance of the day for Section VII going 2-2 at 94 lbs.

McDonald lost her opening match to Avery Mancini of Burnt Hills/Scotia/Ballston Spa by pinfall in 1:04 but would wrestle her way back to consolation quarterfinals.

She won her two matches by technical fall over Massena’s Zoee Cook and Mechanicville/Stillwater’s Brooke Connors by scores of 10-0 and 12-2, respectively.

Her run ended in the next round as she fell in 11 seconds to Rocky Point’s Zoey Hernandez.

Three wrestlers went 1-2 on the day: Peru’s Marlee Cummings (100) and NAC/Beekmantown’s Lilly Blazina (120) and Haley LeClair (138).

All three wins came in wrestlebacks as Cummings defeated Waverly’s Gianna Rylott by pinfall at 1:17.

Blazina’s victory came 57 seconds into her wrestleback as she pinned Dansville’s Hope Ammarell.

After dropping her first contest, LeClair won by pinfall over Middletown’s Hailey Lichtenstein in 55 seconds.

Other wrestlers for Section VII went 0-2 on the day, including AuSable Valley’s Emma Reid (235) and NAC/Beekmantown’s Kelsey Trowbridge (107), Athena Turner (114), Summer McCaffrey (126), Clara Parsons (132), Barelyn Bilow (145) and Mariah Claussen (152).