Bay Shore all-girls wrestling team making history in New York State

BAY SHORE, Long Island (WABC) -- On Saturday, members of the Bay Shore wrestling team wrapped up their inaugural season at the PSAL Girl State invitational in the Bronx. The girls' wrestling team is the first all-girls varsity wrestling team in New York State.

"So a couple years ago, we kind of started dabbling with the thought of having a girls' team at the high school. As female wrestling got bigger and bigger, the athletic director kind of jumped on board with that," said Coach Amber Atkins.

"It's a girls wrestling team, I didn't think 'oh it's a girls wrestling team, I just thought it was regular,'" added Maria Quercia.

The team formed this past November and is 16 members strong. While it is the Bay Shore wrestling team, it is not limited to Bay Shore students.

Coach Atkins says any girl in grades 7-12 in Suffolk County is eligible to come and wrestle on the team.

"I decided to do it because I didn't want to do the boys team because I thought it was embarrassing a little," said East Islip 8th grader, Sienna Kateridge.

The girls don't have to look far for guidance and leadership - Coach Atkins wrestled at Bay Shore High School from 2006-2010 on the boys' wrestling team.

"There was no girls wrestling team at the time, so it was kind of the norm for me, so it really wasn't anything out of the usual," she said.