The National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) national tournament wrapped up yesterday in Virginia Beach, VA. BTS emerged with its first NHSCA All-American as Adis Radoncic of Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy went 7-2 in the tournament, good enough for 5th place in the 51-man bracket.

Here is a match-by-match recap of his weekend:

Read more: Radoncic Earns 5th Place at NHSCA Nationals

On Saturday, 51 girls from six teams battled it out at Townsend Harris High School.

The PSAL Catch-All Team

For many, this marked the first match of not only this season, but their wrestling careers. The Townsend Harris tournament was one of two tournaments taking place today, with the second happening at Hunter College High School. Between the two, over 130 girls competed. Read coverage of the Hunter College HS tournament.

That total is double the average number of girls who have competed in the Mayor’s Cup Girls Division, the oldest girls tournament of the Folkstyle Season in New York City. It is also twice the number of girls that competed in the PSAL Girls Developmental League last year.

Read more: PSAL Girls Inaugural Season Kicks Off at Townsend Harris

On Saturday, 80 Wrestlers from eight schools met at Hunter College High School to kick off the Inaugural PSAL Girls Wrestling Season. There was another kickoff tournament taking place at Townsend Harris High School as well.

Canarsie wrestlers Nikkiann Mitchell (l.)
and Miranda Gilbert.

Nikkiann Mitchell, a junior from Canarsie who took first place at 117 pounds, really grasped the significance of the event: “We’re the first girls in PSAL history to have our own league.  This is huge.  We’re a part of something bigger than we are, and I don’t think too many people realize the magnitude of that.” 

Champions were crowned in 12 different weight classes. See coverage of the tournament at Townsend Harris.

Read more: PSAL Girls Kickstart Inaugural Wrestling Season at Hunter

Competition in the first ever PSAL Girls Wrestling League kicks off today with tournaments at Townsend Harris HS and Hunter College HS.

Competition at each location will begin at 10am. Teams will compete all day without taking a break so fans interested in seeing the finals should make sure they get there early.

Site locations and teams competing are as follows:

• Hunter College HS
  • 71 E 94th St
    New York, NY 10128
  • Teams: Brooklyn Tech, Canarsie, New Dorp, Curtis, Bathgate, Flushing, Grover Cleveland, Hunter
• Townsend Harris HS
  • 149-11 Melbourne Ave
    Flushing, NY 11367
  • Teams: Susan Wagner, CSIHS, Sunset Park, Catch All, MLK, Taft, Townsend Harris, H.S. of Fashion Industries

The BTS website will provide coverage of these tournaments along with the entire PSAL Girls Wreslting Season.

Adis Radoncic (Jr., RKA) has earned All-American honors and will be wrestling Saturday to determine where he places. With three more victories, he can earn a 3rd place finish.

After the second day of the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) National Wrestling Tournament, a total of three BTS athletes remain alive in the competition. Seniors Cheick Ndiaye of Brooklyn International and Keanu Thompson of Grand Street Campus are both alive in the consolation rounds of their Senior National Bracket.

Nathanael Rose (So., Eagle) won his opening two matches of the tournament by fall to advance to the quarterfinals, where he was defeated 2-1 and fell to the consolation bracket. He then dropped a 4-0 decision in the All-American round to finish just short of the podium. Radoncic lost in the Round of 16, as well, but rebounded to win three consecutive matches in the consolation bracket to earn All-American honors.

Other BTS Athletes who won matches in the tournament were Saidyokub Kahramonov, a Junior out of New Utrecht, Juniors Marc D'Chiutiis and Konstantin Parfiryev of James Madison, Freshman Ramel McIntosh of MLK, and Junior Nigel Williams of Eagle Academy. McIntosh and Williams each won two matches.

Follow results tomorrow at Escape Sports.

Coaches Mike Torriero and John McGarry (Eagle Academy) led of group of 10 BTS wrestlers down to Virginia Beach this weekend to compete in the NHSCA Nationals.  The athletes are some of the best the city has to offer and represent seven different high schools, they are:

• Ramel McIntosh, MLK, 113 lbs.
• Danny Amancio, MLK, 120 lbs.
• Keanu Thompson, Grand Street, 126 lbs.
• Cheick Ndiaye, BK International, 126 lbs.
• Saidyokub Kahramonov, New Utrecht, 132 lbs.
• Marc D'Chiutiis, Madison, 145 lbs.
• Nigel Williams, Eagle, 145 lbs.
• Konstantin Parfiryev, Madison, 160 lbs.
• Adis Radoncic, RKA, 170 lbs.
• Nathaneal Rose, Eagle, 195 lbs.

The underclassmen started competition yesterday. Rose and Radoncic each went undefeated on the day and are in the round of 16.  McIntosh, Williams, D'Chiutiis, and Parfiryev each won a match. That group, along with Kahramonov and Amancio, remain alive in the consolation bracket.  Seniors Thompson and N'Diaye start competition today.

Follow all results at Escape Sports.

Mike Torriero has spent the better part of his life on a wrestling mat.  As a senior in High School he won a New York state championship for Rocky Point and set a state record for fastest pin in the finals in the process.  He continued his career at West Virginia where he was an NCAA Qualifier.  He then started his coaching career in Suffolk County where he mentored multiple state champions through Journey Wrestling.  In 2009, he started working with Beat the Streets.  Between then and now, he has had a positive influence on the lives of countless New York City wrestlers including our first-ever high school state champion, Adis Radoncic.

What was the biggest challenge unique to NYC wrestling that you encountered when first joining BTS in September 2009?

Read more: Q&A with Mike T