Riverhead’s Miiko Foster wins Suffolk County girls wrestling tournament

In the inaugural Suffolk County individual girls wrestling championships, Riverhead freshman Miiko Foster took an unprecedented leap to stardom under the bright lights at Comsewogue High School Monday night. 

The snow pushed the event back one day but Miiko Foster would not be stopped in reaching her goals. Foster, who battled her way through the tough competition in the 185-pound weight division, made history by being one of the first Suffolk County girls wrestling champions ever. With the win, she earned a ticket to the New York State championships on Feb. 27 at MVP Arena in Albany.

It was an incredible performance from the 15-year-old, who was actually considering quitting midway through the season. 

“Wrestling is hard,” Foster said. “It’s a lot of hard work. Any wrestler will tell you the same. You need to have the will to push forward and the motivation to want to be great. There’s so much that goes into it and confidence is a big part of it. I didn’t have the confidence I have today at the beginning of the season.”

The nerves were kicking in for Foster as she moved up in the bracket, only to find that in order to win, she would have to defeat two of her Bellport teammates — Gabby Barret and then Kyleigh Kershner — in the final. To go against an opponent you’ve never wrestled is one thing, but having to beat your teammate brings another world of emotions. 

“I told both of the girls that, yeah, you’re friends now, but when you shake each other’s hand before the match that all has to go away,” Bellport/Riverhead co-head coach Edwin Perry said. “Once it’s over you can go back to being friends but you have to put all that aside for those six minutes.”

After battling Barret neck and neck in the semifinals for the whole first period, with neither girl scoring many points, Foster finally came up with a crucial takedown and earned the pin after 1:23 into the second period. It would solidify her spot in the finals.

It was familiar territory for Foster, who won the Steven Mally Tournament at the end of January. The stage was bigger but the execution and thought process were the same.

“She’s been wrestling better and better ever time we see her,” Perry said, all business, rocking a full suit on the sidelines. “I told all our girls that this is your time to shine and put on your best performance. We saw one of Miiko’s best performances last tournament, beating a bunch of quality girls, so I knew she had a chance today.”

As Foster warmed up for the finals, her teammate Kershner was right by her side, keeping the vibes high. There was no animosity between the two. The better wrestler would win and that was that. 

“Wrestling against one of my best friends on the team definitely does hurt,” Foster said. “Especially someone I learned so much from. It’s an emotional moment. But Coach Perry really pumped me up before the match, and I felt like I had a good shot to win.”

There was also a little added motivation from her parents before the tournament.

“They said if I win states I’d get a puppy,” Foster said. “I’m not going to lie, I really want that puppy. It was definitely one of the motivating factors today.”

After a tightly contested first minute with Kershner, Foster caught her opponent in a disadvantageous position and threw her down to the ground, earning a pin with a minute left on the clock. She was suddenly all alone with no one else to beat. She was a champion. 

“We’ve been working on the other parts of her game,” Perry said. “She loves to headlock but to win you can’t be one-dimensional. I think with the two pins today you saw what she is capable of doing.”

Throughout the tournament, the announcers kept pronouncing Miiko’s name as “Mike-o” so before the podium winners were announced, her coaches and family made sure they would pronounce her name correctly as “Me-ko.” Safe to say they’ll know her name going forward. 

“I wanted to get known,” Foster said. “I wanted to get my name on the wall. I wanted to make Riverhead proud. I think I did that. Now I just want that puppy.”