Beat the Streets New York Wrestling's Eric Bocanegra takes 3rd at 2026 National Preps

Bocanegra is the sixth student-athlete from Beat the Streets to earn National Preps All-America honors since 2021.

Eric Bocanegra claimed third place at 113 pounds at the National Preps Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Bocanegra, the No. 5 seed in his weight class, scored two wins by fall and a 2-1 victory in tiebreaker two to advance to the semifinals. He fell 8-3 to top-seeded and eventual runner-up Liam Davis of Lake Highland Prep. Bocanegra rebounded with a 10-1 major decision and 4-0 decision to take third place.

Bocanegra started wrestling in the Beat the Streets Junior League, New York City's only elementary and middle school wrestling league, with the Harlem Jets in Manhattan. He is a junior at Blair Academy, which took second to Lake Highland Prep in the team standings this year.

Bocanegra is the sixth BTS student-athlete to earn National Preps All-America honors since 2021. The BTS student-athletes who previously secured All-American status all went on to compete in wrestling at the NCAA Division 1 wrestling, the highest level of collegiate competition. Bocanegra's finish adds to a growing legacy of BTS success at National Preps.

BTS Recent Success at National Preps

2026 - Eric Bocanegra (3rd at 113)

2025 - Oumar Tounkara (3rd at 120), Kingston Daniells Silva (3rd at 215)

2024 - Xavier Giles (4th at 165), Oumar Tounkara (7th at 106), Kingston Daniells Silva (8th at 175)

2023 - Sulayman Bah (8th at 120), Xavier Giles (2nd at 165), Oumar Tounkara (7th at 106)

2021 - Sulayman Bah (2nd at 113), Alex Semeneko (3rd at 220) *Tounkara (Drexel), Daniells Silva and Bah (Columbia), Giles (Princeton), Semeneko (Brown)

Fellow BTS Junior League alumnus Kimoni Giles (Eagle Academy), a younger brother of Xavier Giles, went 3-2 at 150 pounds. The Bronx native is a senior at Green Farms Academy.

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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.