Yianna Foufas earns state title

Bellmore-Merrick wrestlers break barriers in male-dominated sport

By RoKSANA AMID ramid@liherald.com

Yianna Foufas, a junior at Wellington C. Mepham High School, captured a state title in wrestling at the first New York State Public High School Athletic Association Girls Wrestling Invitational last month in Syracuse. Foufas, 16, said she hoped her success would inspire other girls to get involved in maledominated sports.

The USA Wrestling Girls High School Development Committee recently recognized New York as the 37th state to host a sanctioned high school wrestling tournament for girls.

Foufas placed first in the 114pound weight class.

“All of the girls were very good and strong,” she said of her competitors. “I was very impressed with everyone’s work ethic on the mat.”

She defeated the 10th-ranked wrestler in the nation in her weight class, 2-0, in the finals, scoring with just 16 seconds left in what was a highly anticipated and competitive match.

Ken Richards

Foufas isn’t the only female wrestler in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. Talia Robles, also of Mepham, and Gabriella Schechtman, of Kennedy High, are two more trailblazers, and all three competed in the Syracuse invitational on Jan. 27, alongside more than 200 other female wrestlers from across the state, 33 of them from Long Island.

“We are extremely proud of Yianna for all she has accomplished,” Mepham coach Ken Richards said. “Yianna has worked tremendously hard in the wrestling room and in the off-season to get where she is today. It’s great to see hard work pay off.”

Foufas and Robles have competed in other girls-only tournaments in the past. In December 2021, they were the first female wrestlers in Mepham’s history to compete in an all-girls tournament, at Copiague High School.

Foufas previously told the

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