Lily Blenk Wins Her First-Ever County Wrestling Title

She’s one step closer.

Lily Blenk won the 120-pound weight class at the Suffolk County Girls Wrestling Championships at Comsewogue High School on Monday evening. With the win, the Westhampton Beach sophomore qualified for the New York State Girls Wrestling Championships, which are February 27 at MVP Arena in Albany — which is in lead-up to the New York State Boys Wrestling Championships.

Blenk has been highly motivated to reach the state tournament ever since she just missed out on qualifying last season. After numerous injuries nearly derailed her entire season a year ago, she still found a way to compete at the Long Island Championships, where she placed third — but she needed to finish in the final two placements in order to qualify.

With some extra fire, Blenk has already had a very successful sophomore campaign in which she placed second at the highly regarded Eastern States Classic, becoming the first-ever Westhampton Beach wrestler ever, boy or girl, to place at the tournament. Now, she has her first county title to go along with it.

“I was upset I missed out on states last year so I was really excited to be able to get the opportunity this year, especially since I am only a sophomore,” she said. “I am grateful and it’s exciting to be able to win a county title and take that next step toward getting to states and winning a title there, which is ultimately my goal this year.”

Blenk was expected to win her weight class at counties, which were originally slated for Sunday morning, but the snow that covered the region Saturday night pushed it to Monday. That threw a bit of a wrench in Blenk’s plans, she said, admitting she is not really a night person. Judging by her results, though, one couldn’t tell.

Blenk did not get one single point scored on her throughout the entire tournament, and she won either by technical fall or pin in all of her matches. After a first-round bye, Blenk defeated Copiague’s Sofia Martinez by tech fall (10-0, 30 seconds) in the quarterfinals, then pinned Bellport’s Ava Phillips in 1:40 in the semifinals. In the finals, she pinned Jaylee Itzep-Escobar, also of Bellport, in 3:57 to win it all.

“It wasn’t a surprise she won a county title just because the level of dedication she gives to the sport is incredible,” Westhampton Beach wrestling head coach Jakob Restrepo said. “We all knew it was inevitable she was going to win eventually, and to go out there and do what she did, she was unscored on the entire tournament. The total score of her matches was 30-0, two ended in pin, one was a tech. It’s just a reflection of how she prepares and goes about the sport.”

For the remainder of this week, Blenk will be in the wrestling room with the five boys that qualified for the Suffolk County Division I Championships, which includes her twin brother Dylan, who was a League VI Champion. Next week, practices move to Bellport High School, where she’ll be with the rest of the girls who qualified for states.

Where Blenk slots into the state brackets was up in the air as of Tuesday morning, but Restrepo said they’re trying not to focus on that. Blenk will be the second Westhampton Beach girls wrestler to make it to states, joining Juliet Barnabee, who competed in the inaugural New York State Girls Wrestling Championships in 2023.

“Just the way we’ve been going about it, we haven’t been looking at the rankings all year. They don’t make or break what you do on the mat,” Restrepo said. “She may be on some people’s radar at this point, but we’re just focusing on ourselves and staying with that game plan. If she wrestles the way she’s been wrestling and continues to prepare the way she’s been preparing, then she should end up at the top of the podium in Albany.”