The Rhode Island Interscholastic League Wrestling State Championships were held last weekend in Providence and a handful of locals made some noise on the state’s biggest stage.

It was a historic event as the RIIL hosted the first-ever girls wrestling state tournament. Not only did a handful of Warwick residents make the trip, but a trio would go on to win titles in their inaugural brackets.

The three girl grapplers to take home gold were Pilgrim freshman Allison Patten, Toll Gate senior Angel Bui and Toll Gate junior Victoria Salinas.

“I was really excited to win the championship. It meant a lot to me to be a part of the first girl’s high school state championship and hopefully help pave the way for the girls younger than me,” said Patten, who has now raised the bar after winning in his first year. “Winning as a freshman has helped me realize that my hard work over the last several years has really paid off. I had a goal to win states, but now that I have done that, my goal is to become a (four-time) state champ and to wrestle in college.”

Patten qualified to compete in the boys side of the tournament, but elected to be part of the historic event.

“It was a tough decision for me because I was the only girl to qualify for boys states and I had to decide whether I was going to compete in girls states or boys states. I chose to be a part of the first girls states and now I get to compete in the first high school girl’s New England tournament,” said Patten.

On the boys side, Hendricken’s Matthew Pappas finished second at 150 pounds for the Hawks, while Pilgrim was led by Trevor O’Connor with a second-place finish at 175 pounds. Spencer Fine finished in second at his new weight class at 190 pounds after winning the state title at 182 last winter.

Hendricken’s Seth McGrew placed third at 126 pounds, followed by teammate Braydon Wilding who took fourth at 132 pounds. Pilgrim’s Donovan Watts finished fourth at 165 pounds for the Pats. Hendricken’s Lincoln Tiernan wrapped up fourth place at 175 pounds as well.

Toll Gate’s Jack Sabatelli finished fifth at 106 pounds, while teammate Marcos Ramirez took fifth at 120 pounds.

Logan Martins placed fourth for Johnston at 126 pounds while teammate Ryan Morales finished sixth for the Panthers

Leading the way for Cranston was West’s Andrew Alchihed, who entered the season coming off a knee injury and returned to form down the stretch. Alchihed had a nice outing last weekend as he wrapped up second place overall at 215 pounds for the Falcons.

Jayden Soy took home a sixth-place finish for the Falcons at 138 pounds, followed by teammate Dante Richardson, who finished sixth at 175 pounds.