Submitted Photo Pictured are members of the inaugural Dunkirk Marauders girls wrestling team, which travels to North Tonawanda to compete in its first tournament as a team on Dec. 9. The team has 21 wrestlers, including three girls who competed with the boys team last year: Isabella Bongiovanni, Eva Colon DeJesus, and Julianne Warrior – a senior, shown kneeling in the middle of the front row.

Girls wrestling is arguably the fastest growing sport in the nation, and now, the Dunkirk Marauders have joined the party.

Dunkirk High School has launched a varsity girls wrestling program for the winter sports season, joining Fredonia and Chautauqua Lake in hosting girls teams in addition to the longstanding boys teams at their respective districts.

Coached by Connor Aitcheson, a former Dunkirk High School wrestler himself, the Marauders feature three girls on the inaugural girls team who competed with the boys team last season: Isabella Bongiovanni, Eva Colon DeJesus, and Julianne Warrior. While Bongiovanni and Colon DeJesus are sophomores this year, Warrior is a senior who has stepped into a leadership role.

“It makes me happy for Dunkirk, to see Dunkirk girls wrestling become a thing. I want it to become big around here,” Warrior said. “It makes my heart happy.”

Warrior began wrestling a year ago when she competed as a member of the boys team, alongside her brother, Timothy.

“It was really my brother (who motivated me),” Warrior said. “I always went to his wrestling matches. I found it interesting and wanted to try it, and then I kind of got dragged onto the team by the boys last year. Then, I fell in love with it.”

Speaking to her goals in her senior season, Warrior said, “My goal is to leave a good foundation for these girls. I want it to be big, I want it to be known that Dunkirk has their own girls wrestling team.”

Dunkirk is second only to Jamestown in all of Chautauqua County in enrollment, but still, Dunkirk often struggles to translate that high student population into dedicated student-athletes. Multiple teams in recent years have been forced to cancel seasons or merge with other schools because of low participation, while other sports who do maintain a team field smaller rosters than their competition. However, in just its first few weeks, the Dunkirk girls wrestling program has garnered significant interest, with 21 students joining to compete at the varsity level. Three more girls are wrestling at the modified level in mixed competitions.

“It’s very rewarding being part of this program,” Aitcheson said. “… To see a full squad come out, and most of them it’s their first time ever stepping foot on a wrestling mat, to see them buy into the sport, to buy into the team aspect … it’s very encouraging to see.”

The inaugural Marauders girls wrestling team matches the total number of boys wrestlers at the school. The Marauders hope to field a lineup of girls ready to compete in each of the 13 weight classes, which Aitcheson said would be a first at Dunkirk since the wrestling program was revived in 2008.

“Our biggest goal is just to get more opportunities for girls; to get them involved with the sport; to fall in love with the sport and to see personal growth,” Aitcheson said. He hopes the program will grow over the years to compete in “what should be the fastest growing sport in New York State within our Section.”

A year ago, Warrior earned second place in her first tournament at North Tonawanda, an accomplishment that she said was “shocking.” She competed in a handful of tournaments last season. Additionally, Colon DeJesus was a Section VI representative at the inaugural state tournament, a non-sanctioned event, last season.

Aitcheson estimated that eight schools have their own girls wrestling program this season, including Dunkirk, Fredonia, and Chautauqua Lake.

“It’s very exciting. We’re on our way to being an officially sanctioned sport in the state, slowly, but surely,” Aitcheson said.

Aitcheson, a Dunkirk teacher, wrestled at Dunkirk for Sal Flores, the current boys wrestling coach, when he was in high school. Aitcheson graduated from Dunkirk in 2014.

“I’m excited for Connor,” Flores said. “He’s a great person to be coaching the girls. He’s good with the kids, and the kids respect him. … Hopefully he sees success this year.”

Flores is proud to see the formation of the girls program, even with it taking a few athletes off his roster that would have competed on the boys team had Dunkirk not split the program to give the ladies their own spotlight.

“It’s amazing. I love it,” Flores said.

Flores hopes that other teams in the area will follow suit, beginning at the modified level.

“This sport is growing up so fast, just like girls flag football, and once it blows up, it’s just going to continue to grow,” Flores said.

Last season, after featuring girls wrestlers as part of its program for many years, Fredonia finally launched its first girls wrestling team. The ‘Billies traveled to Mayville for the first girls wrestling match in Chautauqua County history on Jan. 4, 2023 at Chautauqua Lake High School. Fredonia’s Leah Waite, of Forestville, won the first contest of the night, while Chautauqua Lake won the overall contest, 54-24.

Chautauqua Lake was the first to form a girls wrestling team, and once Fredonia followed in their footsteps, Chautauqua Lake had its first local opponent. Now with Dunkirk entering the mix, the schools will compete against each other in dual matches this year, just as the boys teams do during the regular season.

“We’re super excited to get this started for our girls, to have that opportunity for them,” Aitcheson said.

The Marauders girls wrestling team will compete in tournaments throughout the winter across western New York, beginning Dec. 9 at North Tonawanda. Then, Dunkirk will face Chautauqua Lake on January 10 in the program’s first regular season team contest. Dunkirk will later face Fredonia in February.

Aitcheson said of Dunkirk wrestling as a whole, “We’ve never been a program that’s been about wins and losses. As long as we see kids grow on the mat and become better young adults in the classroom, in the hallways, and out in public, that’s our biggest goal as a wrestling program.”