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March Program Highlights

Dan Altomare   |   Mar 28, 2018

NHSCA Nationals (March 22nd-24th) After winter reared its’ ugly head (hopefully for the final time) here in Philadelphia, 14 BTSP wrestlers were more than excited to make the trip south to Virginia Beach for NHSCA Nationals. Congratulations are in order for all 14 wrestlers selected to attend; as decisions were made based on, commitment to academics, wrestling success, and recommendations from coaches:
  • Tatyana Ortiz-JR (106)
  • Jayshawn Copeland-FR (120)
  • Tyler Mangan-MS (120)
  • Aboubakare Diaby-FR (126)
  • Zamire Rice-SO (126)
  • Reynaldo Garcia (126)
  • Mike Rubino-SR (138)
  • Jarrod Johnson-JR (138)
  • Naseen Pennington-SO (145)
  • Lucien Anderson-JR(152)
  • Xavier Rivera-JR(152)
  • Angel Garcia-SR(160)
  • Daishawn Tilghman-SO (195)
From great wrestling, to late afternoons on the beach, and quality time with teammates/friends, this was a memorable weekend for sure! From a wrestling standpoint, particularly nice performances were had by Tatyana Ortiz, Angel Garcia, Naseen Pennington who each had some impressive wins throughout the weekend. While ultimately our kids fell short of the podium, the opportunity to wrestle on one of the biggest stages in the sport was an invaluable experience! Heading into freestyle season, we are all very optimistic about the wrestling that lies ahead. Lastly, BTSP would like to thank the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) and Beat the Streets-National for playing an instrumental role in making this experience possible for our kids. Opportunities like this keep our kids motivated, focused, and open their eyes to the world of wrestling outside of Philadelphia. Final brackets can be found on FLOARENA.   USMC Leadership Academy (March 24th) This past Saturday, nearly 100 Philadelphia-area high school wrestlers came out to South Philadelphia High School for a day of wrestling and instruction from the United States Marine Corps! Beat the Streets has worked in partnership with the Marine Corps for a couple of years now in an effort to educate our kids and help to prepare them for life beyond wrestling. PRTC Head Coach Brandon Slay, PRTC athletes, & the Bethea brothers led the wrestling technique clinic, while the Marine Corps educated wrestlers on leadership and the career opportunities presented by the Marines. Overall, this was an awesome experience for our kids and we look forward to continuing to partner with the USMC in the future! To learn more about the Marine Corps, and the opportunities they have available, visit their website here.   Girls Folkstyle National Championships (March 24th) In our final recap of March programming, BTSP would send a BIG congratulations to Jasintai Malliqui (Novice-75lbs) for her 3rd place finish over the weekend as the Girls National Championships! Jasintai (or “T” as her coaches call her) made us all especially proud after losing a tight 5-3 match to the eventual champion, Zoey Utterback, and then rattling off 4 STRAIGHT WINS to take 3rd place! It’s never easy to wrestle back at any level, but to do it in her 1st experience in the national spotlight is downright incredible. T and her family should be very proud of a great end to a fantastic season! Final results for the Girls National Championships can be found on FLOARENA.