Cotelesse makes history as inaugural girls WPIAL champ

Feb. 21—Laurel High's Contessa Cotelesse has been wrestling for around seven months but has already made leaps, bounds and now history.

On Saturday, Cotelesse, a freshman, made history by becoming the inaugural girls WPIAL 148-pound division champion. A total of 161 student-athletes competed at the individual championships and only 13 walked away with gold.

"It was nice. I don't really know. I don't think it's hit me yet that I've won WPIALs," Cotelesse said. "But, this definitely was a big accomplishment for me and where I want to be."

Cotelesse credits keeping her mindset right as a reason for winning gold.

Cotelesse was given the four seed and she said she was and wasn't surprised about it "Considering I haven't wrestled many tournaments this season," she said, adding, "My record's down. But, the No. 1 seed, I beat at WPIALs in the semis."

For her efforts, Cotelesse was named Lawrence County Athlete of the Week as voted on by the New Castle News sports staff.

"She hasn't had a lot of matches this year. There were some issues during the year with weight so she wasn't in a few tournaments. I knew she had the capability. I knew most of the girls in her weight, I've seen them wrestle at tournaments. I knew she had the capacity to win it," Laurel coach Jay Matteo said. "But, like she said, it was a matter of making weight and keeping a good mindset. One thing about her is she doesn't really care who she wrestles — one seed, four seed, three seed, it doesn't matter to her. She actually uses that as motivation as, 'Oh, you didn't seed me first? I'll show you.' She has a good mentality and she brought it into the tournament and it showed. She had a really great performance."

A daughter of Amanda Baker and Noah Baker, the freshman joined wrestling at the junior high level.

"It really started out with one of my teammates talking about needing girl wrestlers," Cotelesse said on getting involved. "Last year, me and my friend decided on trying it out and see how we liked it. Then, it's just gone on from there. I became obsessed with it within the first two months of it."

What sold Cotelesse on wrestling was the individual aspect.

"I've always played team sports. I know if I fail, that's on me," she said. "I don't have to worry about other people. My success is my own success altogether."

Wrestling now as a freshman, Cotelesse said it feels "different," adding, "It's more professional considering I was in junior high last year. Everything just felt like it was going with the flow and kind of random."

Matteo said securing gold for Laurel in the first-ever girls' individual WPIAL championship means a lot.

"It's really does," he said. "It kind of puts us on the map for girls wrestling even though we were already with Abbie (Miles)...It was a nice transition from (Miles) leaving to (Alexis) Brua who's still in the mix and Tessa coming up. It's like an end and a beginning. As (Miles) leaves, we have more to filter in. Hopefully, like she said, it catches on and more girls want to join and we'll have a bigger team."

Cotelesse is one of four girls on Laurel's wrestling team.

"Our little team of four, it's nice. I like having a small team," Cotelesse said. "But, I would like to see bigger numbers eventually. It for sure will. There's no doubt about that."

Matteo talked about Cotelesse having the it factor when it comes to grappling.

"When it comes to wrestling, some people just have it. When they say 'it factor', you hear that every once in a while. But, it's a real thing and just from her beginning last year and to see her picking things up that aren't taught, you can tell when you can see that out of somebody, we didn't teach that and she's figured it out on her own," Matteo said. "Those are just some of the skills and qualities that she has that have allowed her to progress. She doesn't do one move. She has a bunch of moves.

"Just to see her be able to understand those, the hard part is being able to transition that into a match where it is successful. For her to be able to do that in a short period of time is compliments to her being an athlete."

Now, Cotelesse is gearing up for the PIAA championships.

"I didn't ever really see myself making it to states as a freshman," she said. "But, now that I'm here, it's kind of crazy. It's going to be about perfecting the stuff that I already do, keeping my weight down and keeping my mindset right until then."

The whole process of competing for state gold is now new to not just Cotelesse, but everyone involved.

"She hasn't really experienced any of this and neither have any of the girls. States is a long tournament. It's a month long. Each week, you're going to see the same girls; wrestle the same girls," Matteo said. "They're going to want to beat you. Once you get to states, it's a three-day tournament. You're making weight every day, wrestling at a high level and then being able to come back and make weight the next day for three days in a row is something none of the girls in this state experienced. It's always been a one-day tournament."

Matteo called Cotelesse "intense."

"She wrestles in practice like she does in a match. That also has transitioned into why she has the success that she has," Matteo said. "I have to practice with her because there's not really a lot of boys or girls that can give her a challenge. Her in the practice room kind of elevates everybody. I even have her wrestling with (Alexis) Brua, the lightweight, and they challenge each other. That's what you need at practice."

Cotelesse also plays softball and said if she attends college she would like to compete in wrestling, but softball is still on her mind too.

"Nowadays, it's different. A lot of kids are just kind of picking one sport, rolling with it and becoming really good at it. It's up to the kids, but I really promote multiple sports, doing different things, being a kid, enjoying time with your friends," Matteo said. "But, it keeps her fresh and I think it keeps everyone fresh. You don't get burnt out from doing something over and over and over again. This is a hard sport. She stays active. During the offseason, she'll go wrestle in freestyle tournaments which at college is freestyle. If a girl graduates from high school and goes to college they've got to transition that. She'll be staying active even though she's doing other sports."

What does the future for Cotelesse look like, according to Matteo?

"Nothing but the sky, really," he replied. "She's in ninth grade, she's beaten good girls, she's winning championships. As long as she can keep her mindset the way it is and have a positive attitude, she can go as far as the sport will take her."