Lights Turn Green For Trista: New Panel Said Yes

Trista Blasz wrestles last weekend at Cornell. 2x NCAA champ Yianni Diakomihalis was the referee in her first round match.

by Derek Levendusky, AWW staff writer

LANCASTER, NY - There’s lots of high fives in New York, and across the country, this morning as the new panel assigned by Lancaster schools to decide Trista’s wrestling fate approved her for competing on JV this season. All lights are green for Trista Blasz.

This new three-person panel was assigned to decide the mixed competition case after the school board unanimously voted to terminate their contract with Dr. Michael Terranova, who, after seemingly ignoring the state testing standards that Blasz passed, wrote on the school report, “Girls don’t play boys’ sports in Lancaster schools.”

Terranova issued a statement today, saying, “The State of New York has established a protocol for female students seeking permission to compete in boys’ sports….Permission was denied based on objective standards mandated by the state. This decision was motivated by concerns for the student’s safety and physical maturity. Despite public outcry initiated by the student’s parent, any form of discrimination is strenuously denied.”

The statement doesn’t address the fact that Terranova ignored the state standards, including Blasz’ obtaining a Tanner 4, the required level for JV, the fact that her primary doctor had authorized her to compete despite any Tanner scores (a provision NYS allows), or Terranova’s handwritten note about girls not playing boys’ sports in Lancaster schools.

The panel made their decision this morning, according to Blasz's mother, Danielle. Trista will attend her first practice at the school at 4 p.m. today.

“This is a huge win for the wrestling community,” says Nikki Macaluso, member of the NYS Girls Wrestling Task Force. “Not only was it a big win for Trista and her family, it was a big win for New York. The women’s representation rule changed this year, which means that girls now get to wrestle in their own divisions. If she didn’t get the green light, she would have missed out on all those opportunities not only to represent her school but also the opportunity to wrestle on a level playing field in girls divisions.”

“I’m excited,” said Blasz’s mother. “We did this for any girl that ever wants to wrestle at Lancaster.”