SOURCE: www.lockportjournal.com

January 25, 2023

NEW for @GNN_Sports_:

Wrestling is already popular in Niagara County.

Now, the girls have their eyes set on Friday in Syracuse.

14 of the 32 Section VI wrestlers competing in NYSPHSAA's first girls wrestling invitational hail from this county alone.https://t.co/7qduDkiucX

— Joe Kraus (@ByJoeKraus) January 26, 2023

Bill Morello's life has revolved around Lockport wrestling since childhood. There were plenty of female wrestlers during his early days, but it was primarily a male-dominated sport.

Now a father of four daughters, Morello has become an advocate, as girls wrestling has exploded enough to become a standalone sport in more than 30 states and New York is finally following along.

New York is now on the eve of hosting the first state-sanctioned girls state wrestling invitational on Friday at SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga County Community College in Syracuse, signaling the evolution and popularity of the sport.

...

Fourteen of the 32 wrestlers invited to the invitational are representing Niagara County from Lockport, Newfane, Lewiston-Porter, North Tonawanda and Niagara Wheatfield.