A rising junior at Hicksville High School has won one of the toughest wrestling competitions in the nation, bringing home Long Island’s second championship.
On July 14 in Fargo, N.D., Haley Gonzales won the USA Wrestling 16U Women’s National Championship at 118 pounds. “Fargo,” as the tournament is known, is widely considered the country’s most challenging high school wrestling tournament.
This is the first Fargo title for a Hicksville wrestler, male or female, and Gonzales is the 10th girl to win a 16U National Title in New York State history.
“I still feel like it’s not real,” Gonzales said.
Her journey to the top did not start smoothly. Gonzales was the 31st seed at the 2024 State Public High School Athletic Association Invitational.
But she quickly proved naysayers wrong, amassing a 6-0 record over the two-day tournament en route to the national title, including three wins over the top-25-ranked competitors.
Gonzales made four takedowns to carry her to victory in the finals against Cheyenne Frank of Michigan, ranked No. 19 in the nation. The final decision was 9-3,.
Gonzales credits the win to a change- n mindset during the practice months leading up to Fargo.
“Every day for the whole summer, I was focusing on what I could do better for this tournament,” she said. “I was lifting every day, doing jiu-jitsu, and I wouldn’t [allow for] any distractions. I really wanted to win, so I totally changed my mindset for this year.”
Gonzales’ victory came despite coping with an injury.
“I got injured about four months ago,” she said. “I tore something in my wrist. But I really wanted to win this year, so I kept playing through it.”
This is Long Island’s first Fargo brass ring since Ally Fitzgerald in 2018.
Girls’ wrestling is the fastest-growing girls’ sport in the country, taking off in the last decade or so. According to Gary Abbott of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, in 1990, 112 girls participated in high school wrestling. By the 2016-17 school year, 14,587 girls were wrestling.
“In the early years, girls only had the opportunity to participate on the boys wrestling team at their high school,” Abbot said. “This was not an easy task. It took a great deal of courage to wrestle, not only because of the physical disadvantage but also because it was not yet accepted by society for girls to train and compete against boys in a combat sport like wrestling.
“In spite of this, the number of girls competing in high school wrestling increased, year after year after year, Abbot said. “Over time, most people have agreed that girls should wrestle against girls in high school. It has become a mission of the leaders in wrestling to develop opportunities for girls to compete against girls at the high school level. As this happens, opportunities for girls to wrestle will skyrocket.”
On Aug. 13, Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino and members of the Town Board recognized Gonzales for her accomplishments, awarding her a citation and commending her achievements at such a young age.
For Gonzales, seeing the results of her hard work has been satisfying.
She said she plans to return to the mat next year, though she will likely be in a more challenging weight class. But she remains confident she will do well.
“Wrestling is 50% mental and 50% physical,” Gonzales said “If you go in thinking you’re going to lose, you’re probably going to lose.”
