But this time, it was different. This time, it was special, like nothing anyone had ever seen before in all of Section VI athletics. Because this time, it was the girls’ time to shine.

In the first dual meet in Section VI girls wrestling history, the Chautauqua Lake Lady Thunderbirds defeated the Fredonia Lady ‘Billies 54-24.

“It’s awesome to be part of the first of anything. Every time we do something, it’s the first. I’m trying to impress on our girls that it’s historic, that we’re making history every time we step on the mat,” said Lady Thunderbirds head coach Peter Dorman.

While the Lady Thunderbirds got the victory overall, the distinction of the first fall in a Section VI girls wrestling dual meet went to Fredonia’s Leah Waite, as she pinned Chautauqua Lake’s Olivia Ridgley at 47 seconds of the second period.

Chautauqua Lake’s Sophia Gervasio, top, battles Fredonia’s Miranda Monroe for an eventual pin and victory for Gervasio. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

“It was exciting, for sure,” Waite said after the contest. “Like we’re working on discipline. Taking them down three times, letting them up, learning that you don’t always have to go out there and pin them right away — it only makes you better. Yeah, it was exciting.”

The Lady ‘Billies had four victories on the night, including Waite’s win at 100 pounds. Two victories via forfeit bookended her victory, as Meyah Aponte won at 94 pounds and Meghan Johnson won at 107 pounds for Fredonia.

Later in the evening, Fredonia’s Lyn Cuthbert recorded her first pin of her wrestling career over Caroline Apthorpe in a highly competitive match at 152 pounds to conclude the scoring for the Lady ‘Billies.

“That’s a big match for Lyn Cuthbert. That’s her first win, and she did everything she needed to do correctly,” said Fredonia girls wrestling coach Ross Conti.

Conti was part of the first wrestling match in Fredonia history back in 1971. He recalls he lost in 1:12 and still has the scorebook. Conti hopes his team remembers Wednesday like he remembers his first match.

The Chautauqua Lake Lady Thunderbirds celebrate a victory at the first girls wrestling dual meet in Section VI history on Wednesday at Chautauqua Lake High School. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

“That (experience) pales compared to this. Why this is going to be so special is we’re just breaking the surface with girls wrestling. There will be more all-girls teams, not only in the section, but all through the state. It’s going to be big,” said Conti. “It’s going to give them a whole new level of confidence. It’s really going to give them something to stand on moving forward. That’s what I felt wrestling did for me. I know it will do that for them.”

For the Lady Thunderbirds, however, the point total continued to climb throughout the night. After an early 18-0 hole, Chautauqua Lake followed with six pins and three forfeit victories to earn 54 points.

“Our girls went through and pinned. We preach pinning,” said Dorman. “Our girls pinned, that’s what we want them to do.”

Lilly Snyder earned the first fall for the Lady Thunderbirds at 114 pounds over Alysha Santiago. Then, Gabbie Testa worked a quick pin over Kyree McCarthy at 126 pounds in just 18 seconds. Mia Smith followed with a pin of Serenity Palmer at 49 seconds of the bout at 132 pounds. Then, at 138 pounds, arguably the most competitive match of the night took place between Chautauqua Lake’s Sophia Gervasio and Fredonia’s Miranda Monroe.

“The Gervasio match at 138, that one went back and forth. Anybody could’ve won it. That was a good match,” said Dorman.

Fredonia’s Evelyn Cuthbert, in back, pinned Chautauqua Lake’s Caroline Apthorpe for the second pin of the night for the Lady ‘Billies. It was Cuthbert’s first pin of her career. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

Gervasio won the contest at 2:29 of the second period to mark the third consecutive fall for the Lady Thunderbirds. With the lead on the line, Gervasio managed to double Chautauqua Lake’s lead to 30-18 at the time.

The Lady Thunderbirds closed out the victory with pins at 165 pounds by Lilly Hyde over Eli Briello and 185 pounds by Kristina Dickey over Makayla Jimerson. Chautauqua Lake earned forfeit victories from Madison Szymanowski, Jalyn Winton, and Gabi Freeburg.

“I think it went great. We had some good matches out there. The crowd was on fire, the girls were on fire. I don’t think we could’ve asked for a better first dual meet,” said Dorman.

The event earned praise from spectators with decades invested in the sport, including U.S. Olympic coach Alex Conti, who called the event “A big deal,” and Hillbillies boys wrestling coach Joe Santilli.

“I was super happy to see the girls scrap earlier. It’s great for the sport,” said Santilli. “I’m super psyched about that.”

The significance of the night was not lost on the participants, either.

“It’s an honor. Like the coaches said to us, we’re going to grow up and we’re going look back at it. We’re going to be able to say we were the first ones to be there, I was in the front row of the picture. It’s going to be a big thing,” Waite said.

Conti added, “When they are older and they look back at the state tournaments and the sectional tournaments and there are literally thousands of people watching, they are going to truly appreciate they were the ones that planted the seeds for it all.”