NEW YORK STATE GIRLS WRESTLING: WAVERLY'S VANDERHOOF FALLS ONE WIN SHY OF PODIUM (20 PHOTOS) (February 26, 2026)
BY TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportALBANY — Waverly senior Emma Vanderhoof saw her high school career end one win shy of the podium Thursday at the New York State Girls Wrestling Championships, while freshman Gianna Rylott was 0-2 here at the MVP Arena.
Vanderhoof posted a 2-2 record on the day.
"The blood round isn't where we wanted this to end," said Waverly coach Jesse Carling.
"I'm proud of her for her commitment to wrestling over the last four years, reaching States was a goal of hers, and it came to fruition.
"Everything from here is a positive, and Emma is going to look to go on to the next level and just continue to get better."
Vanderpool, the fifth seed at 132 pounds, opened her day with a 10-0 technical fall of Northern Adirondack's Clara Parsons in 44 seconds, but dropped a 10-0 technical fall to fourth-seeded Caitlin Maragioiilio of Brockport in the quarterfinals.
Vanderpool bounced back with a pin of Minisink Valley's Kenzie Welch in 1:47 in her first wrestleback bout, but lost via first-period fall to eighth-seeded Alexa Doxey of Niagara Wheatfield in the blood round.
Vanderpool ends her season at 36-10.
"Little, simple mistakes are what caused our negatives today, and I think those are easily correctable for her to continue to be competitive and at the next level," said Carling.
"We've seen exponential growth from her over the last four years," he noted.
"Just from the time that I started working with her over the summer to now has been great," added Carling. "She's just got a really great attitude about wrestling."
Rylott, unseeded in the 100-pound weight class, was 0-2 in her first trip to Albany.
"Obviously not the results we were looking for, but I think it's a great experience for a freshman," said Carling.
"We take away from this what we need to work on in the following years, and we just continue to improve and plan to be back here.
"I think she has the right mentality as a wrestler. We're just gonna keep grinding, and eventually we'll get where we want to be," added Carling.
Rylott lost via first-period fall to third-seeded Olivia Anello of Bellport in the opening round.
In her consolation bracket match, Rylott scored the first takedown but lost via fall to Peru's Marlee Cummings in 1:17.
"I think maybe there was a little bit of nerves — being a freshman at the state tournament," said Carling.
"Gianna is a really good athlete and a really good wrestler," he noted. "We have to find our offense. We did a little bit in that last match, and the more we can do that, the more successful we're going to be.
"In the second match, the other girl found better offense, and this is where we ended up," added Carling.
Rylott ends the season at 20-18.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Emma Vanderhoof ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
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