Wrestlers · Senior level
Sofia Macaluso
2022 U20 World silver medalist at 57 kg; 2022 national Tricia Saunders Award winner; NCWWC All-American for East Stroudsburg
Otisville, NY · Minisink Valley HS · East Stroudsburg
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 28, 2026
Sofia Macaluso is from Otisville, New York, and wrestled on the boys' varsity team at Minisink Valley High School. New York had not sanctioned girls' high school wrestling. In 2019 she placed third at 120 pounds at the Section IX Division I tournament. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame records her as the first girl to place there. She also won the PSAL girls' state title at 122 pounds that season.
In 2019 she won the Cadet title at Junior Nationals in Fargo. In 2021 she reached the Junior final there. As a senior in 2022 she went 60-9 and reached the Section IX Division I final at 118 pounds, where Alex Greco of Warwick beat her 3-0. The Hall of Fame records her as the first girl to reach that final.
In May 2022 she won the U20 Nationals in Fort Worth at 57 kg, about 126 pounds. She beat Claire DiCugno of Colorado Mesa 8-3 and 9-2 in the best-of-three final. The Hall of Fame named her the 2022 national winner of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award. At the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, she pinned three opponents, including Aurora Russo of Italy. She lost the final 6-1 to Ruka Natami of Japan and took silver.
At East Stroudsburg in 2022-23 she won the NCWWC Region 1 title at 123 pounds, pinning Naomi Henry of NJCU in the final. She placed sixth at the NCWWC Championships in the same bracket as her older sister, Mia. At the 2024 U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania, she placed fifth at 57 kg.
She has run Venom Girls Wrestling Club in Otisville.
She is the first head coach of the girls' wrestling program at New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson. She is signed with Spartan Combat RTC and West Point Wrestling Club and plans to keep competing at the senior level.
Results
| Season | Level | Event | Weight | Place | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | High school | PSAL Girls Wrestling Invitational and State Championships | 122 lb | 1st | New York had no sanctioned girls' state tournament. The Hall of Fame also lists this title. |
| 2018-19 | High school | Section IX Division I championships | 120 lb | 3rd | In the boys' tournament. The Hall of Fame records her as the first girl to place at it. |
| 2019 | Age group | Junior Nationals, Fargo | 1st | The Hall of Fame lists her as the 2019 Junior Nationals Cadet champion. She also won Cadet and Junior titles at Folkstyle Nationals that year. | |
| 2021 | Age group | Junior Nationals, Fargo | 127 lb | 2nd | She lost the final 10-0 to Alexis Janiak (Illinois). |
| 2021-22 | High school | Section IX Division I championships | 118 lb | In the boys' tournament. She reached the final and lost 3-0 to Alex Greco (Warwick). Sources disagree on where she finished. The Hall of Fame records her as the first girl to reach that final. | |
| 2022 | Age group | U20 Nationals, Fort Worth | 57 kg | 1st | She beat Claire DiCugno (Colorado Mesa) 8-3 and 9-2 in the best-of-three final to make the U20 World Team. |
| 2022 | Age group | U20 World Championships, Sofia | 57 kg | 2nd | 3-1. Three pins, including one over Aurora Russo (Italy), then a 6-1 loss to Ruka Natami (Japan) in the final. |
| 2022-23 | College | NCWWC Region 1 Championships, Erie | 123 lb | 1st | She pinned Naomi Henry (NJCU) in 4:51 in the final. |
| 2022-23 | College | NCWWC Championships, Cedar Rapids | 123 lb | 6th | All-American for East Stroudsburg, in the same bracket as her older sister, Mia. |
| 2024 | Age group | U23 World Championships, Tirana | 57 kg | 5th | 2-2. She beat Bertha Rojas Chavez (Mexico) 11-9 and Anastasia Kozlova (Individual Neutral Athlete) 4-1, lost by fall to Zhala Aliyeva (Azerbaijan), then lost the bronze medal match 8-4 to Alina Filipovych (Ukraine). |
What we could not confirm
Anything not on this page, a high school record, a final score, a season, was left out because no primary source stated it when this was written. If you have a bracket, a program, or a clipping, send it to the operator, Joe Spisak, at joe@spisak.co and the page gets the number.
Sources
- https://nwhof.org/news/new-york-s-sofia-macaluso-named-tricia-saunders-high-school-excellence-award-national-winner · National Wrestling Hall of Fame, 2022. Sofia Macaluso of Otisville is the national winner of the Tricia Saunders High School Excellence Award, with her Minisink Valley and age-group record.
- https://nwhof.org/hall_of_fame/bio/15269 · National Wrestling Hall of Fame biography. Her Section IX firsts, her 60-9 senior season, her 2019 Cadet title and 2021 final at Junior Nationals, Fargo, and her 2022 U20 World silver.
- https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2020/02/14/section-9-wrestling-macaluso-shines-on-girls-day/111804470/ · Times Herald-Record, February 2020. Sofia Macaluso placed third at 120 pounds at the Section 9 tournament the season before.
- https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/02/12/section-9-wrestling-minisink-valley-ties-record-most-champions/9300928002/ · Times Herald-Record, February 2022. She lost the Section 9 Division I final at 118 pounds 3-0 to Alex Greco of Warwick.
- https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/2022/05/13/section-9-wrestling-sofia-macaluso-world-championships-bulgaria/9610879002/ · Times Herald-Record, May 2022. She won the U20 Nationals in Fort Worth at 57 kg, beating Claire DiCugno 8-3 and 9-2 in a best-of-three final.
- https://armdrag.com/matburn?team=34&person=94177 · ArmDrag.com wrestler record. First place at 122 pounds at the PSAL Girls Wrestling Invitational and State Championships in 2018-19.
- https://esuwarriors.com/news/2022/8/19/womens-wrestling-sofia-macaluso-claims-silver-at-u20-world-championships.aspx · East Stroudsburg athletics, August 2022. Incoming freshman Sofia Macaluso won silver at 57 kg at the U20 World Championships, losing the final 6-1 to Ruka Natami of Japan.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2022/august/18/elor-and-macaluso-into-semis · USA Wrestling, August 2022. Her quarterfinal pin of Aurora Russo of Italy, the 2021 U20 World silver medalist, at the U20 World Championships.
- https://esuwarriors.com/news/2023/2/18/womens-wrestling-esu-takes-third-at-ncwwc-region-1-championships-six-warriors-advance-to-nationals.aspx · East Stroudsburg athletics, February 2023. She won the NCWWC Region 1 title at 123 pounds.
- https://esuwarriors.com/news/2023/3/3/womens-wrestling-four-warriors-earn-ncwwc-all-america-status-on-first-day-of-ncwwc-national-championships.aspx · East Stroudsburg athletics, March 2023. On the first day of the NCWWC Championships at 123 pounds she beat Gabby Skidmore of Augsburg 10-5 and Naomi Henry of NJCU 12-1.
- https://www.themat.com/news/2024/october/25/match-notes-u23-world-championships-day-five · USA Wrestling, October 2024. Her four matches at 57 kg at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, where she placed fifth.
- https://grapplergold.com/featured/sofia-macaluso-named-head-girls-coach-at-new-york-military-academy/ · Grappler Gold, 2026. New York Military Academy named Sofia Macaluso the first head coach of its girls' wrestling program. The article also records her sixth-place NCWWC finish in 2023.
- https://esuwarriors.com/sports/womens-wrestling/roster/sofia-macaluso/9288 · East Stroudsburg athletics roster biography, 2022-23.
- https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/july/21/junior-womens-finals-wrap · USA Wrestling, July 2021. The Junior women's finals at Fargo, where she reached the 127-pound final against Alexis Janiak of Illinois.
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