3 Beat the Streets student-athletes win New York state freestyle titles

Nine BTS student-athletes earned a top-five finish in freestyle and five more in Greco-Roman.

Three Beat the Streets student-athletes won freestyle titles at the Jeff Blatnick New York State Olympic Style Wrestling Championships on Saturday in Binghamton.

Ana Carolina Lockard and Marieyls Lugo earned the top spot on the podium in girls freestyle. Lockard had a fall in 32 seconds and an 8-4 decision to claim her title in the under-16 division. Lugo dominated with three falls in less than 90 seconds (eight seconds, 23 seconds and 1:28) for her title in the junior division. Both Lockard and Lugo are part of the BTS Academy program.

Evin Gursoy outscored his opponents 31-0 en route to his second state title of the school year. He captured a state championship in folkstyle in February.

Fellow BTS Academy student-athletes Siri Hyde, Isabella Lorenzana and Lanxi Xu earned top-five finishes in girls freestyle. Lorenzana fell 13-11 in her opening match then rebounded with a 12-5 win and a fall in 1:14 to claim second place in the 16U division. Xu's tournament was highlighted by a 14-12 upset win against the No. 2 seed in her weight class in the junior division.

BTS student-athletes Firdavs Ahmadzoda, Bilali Assoumanou, Amir Avazov, Cristian Cruz, Dwayne Harris, Amin Ibrahim and Matthew Velez and Luka Zakaidze earned top-five finishes in the junior age division. Avazov grabbed fourth, while Harris and Velez each claimed fifth in freestyle. Ahmadzoda (fourth), Cruz (fifth), Ibrahim (second) and Zakaidze earned top-five spots in Greco-Roman. Ahmadzoda, Assoumanou, Avazov, Cruz and Zakaidze are part of the BTS Academy.

Avazov went 3-2, with two wins by technical superiority of 10 points or more. Harris dropped his opening match then rallied with five wins, including four straight by technical superiority. Velez defeated fellow BTS student-athlete David Cordero 14-4 to claim fifth.

Assoumanou won three straight matches, including 8-0 against Cruz in the opening round, then fell in the finals. Cruz rebounded from his opening loss with four wins, with a fall against BTS student-athlete Robert Dizengof in the fifth-place match. Ibrahim won two matches 8-0 then fell in the finals by the same score. Ahmadzoda had an 11-0 win in just 35 seconds. Zakaidze fell in the quarterfinals then picked up four consecutive wins, including three by technical superiority, for third.

Girls Freestyle

16U: Ana Carolina Lockard (1st), Isabella Lorenzana (2nd), Siri Hyde (5th)

Junior: Marielys Lugo (1st), Lanxi Xu (3rd)

Boys Freestyle

Junior: Evin Gursoy (1st), Amir Avazov (4th), Dwayne Harris (5th), Matthew Velez (5th)

Greco-Roman

Junior: Bilali Assoumanou (2nd), Amin Ibrahim (2nd), Luka Zakaidze (3rd), Firdavs Ahmadzoda (4th), Cristian Cruz (5th)

Since being founded in 2005, Beat the Streets has pioneered a movement that now includes 150 individual wrestling programs, a youth league and the first girls high school league.

BTS works to develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and strengthen the NYC wrestling culture. We aim to make a lifelong impact on student-athletes through the lessons learned on the wrestling mat -- discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility and a strong work ethic. Discover how you can make a meaningful contribution to our work at btsny.org/donate.