On an overcast and drizzling day at the Michael J. Petrides School, there were a lot of smiles and good cheer.

In honor of being named as the United States Marine Corps Marine of the Year, 2009 graduate and former wrestler Corporal Billy Spinelli was celebrated with a flag-raising ceremony and series of presentations at his alma mater in Staten Island.

School Principal Joanne Buckheit declared March 12th, 2013 as "Billy Spinelli Day" and a representative from the office of Staten Island Borough President James P. Molinaro was on hand to read a Borough Proclamation commemorating the award.

Dozens of elementary school students made banners and signs, the school choir sang beautifully, and friends and family were on hand for the occasion, including former head coach Michael Blyth and current head coach Dave Olah. Both coached Spinelli during his four years on the Petrides team.

As noted in the news release on the Petrides website, Billy was a city wrestling champion at 138 pounds. "I love wrestling; it's my favorite sport," Billy said. "Everyone asks me -- wrestling is everything to me." 

Read more: Petrides-grad Spinelli honored as Marine of the Year

This past Saturday, March 9th, 2013, 16 of the best female wrestlers from New York City competed at the Mohawk Valley International Tournament. Eight brackets of round-robins, 40 competitors, and over 90 matches later, the Beat the Streets Girls Wrestling Team won the tournament by a landslide. Other teams in the tournament came from Canada, Puerto Rico, and upstate NY. (More pictures on the BTS Girls Facebook page.)

Notable performances were turned in by Sara Andreson (Hunter), Kim Cardenas (Petrides), and Destane Garrick (Wingate/PSAL Catch-All). 

Read more: Girls kick off season in grand fashion at Mohawk Valley

With over 70 girls in attendance, it's possible a New York City record was set for the number of girl wrestlers in one place. Due to the overwhelming turnout, a second clinic has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th from 4:30pm - 6:00pm. The coaches clinic scheduled for 4:00pm has been rescheduled for 6:00pm following the girls clinic.

Beat the Streets would like to thank Terry for running a great clinic and sharing a number of inspirational stories with the girls!

More photos available after the jump.

Read more: Steiner clinic draws over 70 girls; 2nd clinic scheduled

Three NYC Wrestling Alumni competed Saturday in the EIWA Championships and two have advanced to Sunday's Championship Rounds.  

Connor Hanafee, a Monsignor Farrell Alum competing at 141 pounds for Army went 2-2 on the day to advance to Sunday's 7th place bout.  Fellow Catholic League Wrestlers Andrew Murano (Xavier, Franklin & Marshall) and Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep, Penn) competed at 149 pounds.  Each Andrew started the day with a loss and advanced to face each other in the consolation bracket.  Lenzi bested Murano 7-3.  They each finished the day with a 1-2 record and Lenzi will compete in Sunday's 7th place match.  

Columbia University sits in 7th place in the tournament after advancing three wrestlers to the finals. It is the first time since 1912 that Columbia has had so many Eastern Finalists.

Follow all EIWA action at: http://www.scarletknights.com/wrestling/eiwa.asp

Beat The Streets is pleased to announce that USA Wrestling's Head Women's Freestyle Coach, Terry Steiner, will be in New York City to work with girl wrestlers and their coaches over a span of three days.

For our female wrestlers, Steiner will be leading a clinic on Monday, March 11th from UPDATE 6:30pm - 8:00pm 4:30pm - 6:00pm at the Manhattan Training Center (see flier at right). Pre-registration is required and we will be limiting the clinic to 50 girls. Please contact your coach in order to register.

Meanwhile, Steiner will be leading a three-day coaches series on the following schedule, which will also take place at the Manhattan Training Center:

• Sunday, March 10th: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Monday, March 11th: 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm 6:00pm - 8:30pm
• Tuesday, March 12th: 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Spring 2013 marks the first year that Girl's Freestyle Wrestling will be recognized as a PSAL Championship Sport.  The first day of practice is Monday, March 4th.  The PSAL League will be comprised of 16 teams: Bathgate, Brooklyn Tech, Canarsie, Curtis, Flushing, Grover Cleveland, H.S. of Fashion Industries, Hunter, Martin L. King, New Dorp, Petrides, Sunset Park, Susan Wagner, Taft, Townsend Harris, and a catch-all team which will be made up of any female wrestlers who attend a school without a team.  Each team will be represented by wrestlers at 12 weight classes: 97, 105, 112, 117 121, 125, 130, 139, 148, 159, 172, and 198.

Key Season Dates:

• March 4th: First Day of practice
• April 6th: First Day of Competition
• April 27th: PSAL Individual Championships
• April 30th: PSAL Dual Meet Championship Individual and Quarterfinal Rounds
• May 4th: New York State Individual Championships
• May 8th: PSAL Dual Meet Championship Semifinals
• May 16th: PSAL Dual Meet Championship Finals

For girls wrestling coverage throughout the season, visit the BTS website and visit the PSAL Girls Wrestling page. There is a list of PSAL girls coaches here.

Wrestlers from across the country took to the mats this weekend to attempt to qualify for the NCAA Division III National Tournament.  Competition was held in six different Regional Tournaments, and New York City alums were well represented in the East and Northeast Region.

The Northeast Regional Tournament was held in Massachusetts at Worcester Poly.  Three athletes represented PSAL schools.  Robby Zyko, a graduate of Curtis HS wrestles for Norwich at 133 pounds. He went 1-2 on the day and finished the season with a 7-13 record.  Two Freshmen wrestled for SUNY Oswego in the tournament.  Abubakarr Sow of Brooklyn International competed at 141 and Johnny Marquez of Flushing competed at 125.  Sow finished the tournament with a 2-2 record to bring his season record to 11-9.

The East Region was held Saturday in Gettysburg, PA.  Brooklyn Tech was well represented at the tournament with three competitors.  Two Tech alums competed for Hunter College:  Brady Kwong wrestled at 149 pounds and Patryk Kopczynski competed at 285.  Kopczynski entered the tournament as the 6th seed and won his opening round match before he was injured in the quarterfinals.  Chris Amro, another Tech alum competed at 174 for NYU.  Amro won his opening match in the tournament to push his season record to 20-12 but was also injured in his next match and was unable to win another.  Monsignor Farrell alum Christian Psomas represented Ursinus at 197 pounds.  The sophomore entered the tournament with a 34-13 record and was the 5th seed.  He went 3-3 on the day, falling twice to Tyler Russel of USMMA, including in the 5th place consolation final.  Psomas finishes the season with 37 wins and a 6th place East Regional Medal.