Beat the Streets New York Wrestling alumnus Alex Semenenko qualifies for NCAA Division 1 Championships

The Brown University senior took second place at the Ivy League Wrestling Tournament to earn his first national tournament appearance.

Beat the Streets New York alumnus Alex Semenenko has qualified for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships for the first time in his career.

The Brown University senior punched his ticket to nationals with a last-second takedown for a 4-1 semifinal win against Pennsylvania's John Pardo. In the final, Semenenko fell 8-1 to Columbia's Vincent Mueller to take second place at the Ivy League Wrestling Tournament on Sunday at Levien Gymnasium.

The national tournament will take place March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Semenenko started wrestling in the Beat the Streets Junior League program at David A. Boody Jr. High School in Brooklyn. In high school, he won a Greco-Roman junior national championship, placed third for Poly Prep at the National Prep Wrestling Championships and took second place for Staten Island Tech at the New York Public High School Athletic Association Individual Championship.

Semenenko is also an accomplished judoka as a two-time U.S. Junior World Team member and 2019 Cadet World Team member. He is now competing on the Senior-level, winning two Pan American open titles in 2025.

More BTS and NYC success

Semenenko is one of six BTS and New York City natives competing in the Ivy League this season: Sulayman Bah, Evin Gursoy and Kingston Daniells Silva (all of Columbia), Xavier Giles (Princeton) and Denzel Perez (Pennsylvania). Bah, Gursoy and Giles all competed in the tournament along with Semenenko. Bah and Gursoy claimed third place at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, while Giles took fifth at 184.

(Photo courtesy Geoff Riccio/Riccio Productions)

###

About Beat the Streets New York 

Beat the Streets Wrestling is a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing the full human and athletic potential of New York City’s urban youth through the sport of wrestling. Beat the Streets has pioneered a movement that now includes 110 individual wrestling programs, a youth league and the first girls high school league. Through wrestling, Beat the Streets instills discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility, and a strong work ethic, creating lifelong impact for more than 4,000 student-athletes while strengthening NYC’s wrestling culture. To learn more and support the mission, visit btsny.org/donate and follow Beat the Streets on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.