2022 Freestyle/Greco States recap
What a way to bounce back!
This past weekend, May 21st-22nd, many NYC wrestlers across different age groups and genders were able to earn hardware at the 2022 Freestyle and Greco State championships, in Rochester, NY. I spoke about 3 in the previous article, but many more were able to earn medals, showing a big improvement from the Northeast Regionals.
Let’s start things off with the girls, Alessandra Elliot of Tottenville, and Rebecca SIlber of Brooklyn Tech, were able to capture Freestyle gold at this years state championships. Achieving this qualifies them both for Fargo in July. Elliot and Silber were both dominant, pinning and teching their way through their respective brackets(Eliott-138lbs, Silber-220lbs). Since Silber will be new to the national scene, she’ll have a tough time reaching the podium at Fargo, but should have no problem wrestling hard and winning some matches. As for Alessandra, she took 3rd at the 2017 World Team Trials, and was the 2021 Cadet Fargo National Champion, yes the Junior level is a jump, but the experience that Alessandra has at the National level should give her everything she needs to bring another national title to the land of the Wu-Tang.
Now on to the male competitors. During the Greco portion of the tournament, the boys of Beat The Streets were able to bring home 10 medals! The highlights came from 4 wrestlers; Xavier Giles; Davit Abjanadze; Oumar Tounkara, and Botensky Bauzile, all placing high enough to qualify for Fargo, in their respective age-groups of course. So, counting the aforementioned girls, that’s 12 medals produced by the Beat the Streets contingent.
And even with that good of a turnout, there’s still more success coming from the city that never sleeps. The Elite Wrestling Academy out of Brooklyn, sent their own contingent to states this past weekend. The highlight came when Gus Harmon, of Murrow, earned 2 medals, 3rd in freestyle, and 4th in Greco. This means Gus will be able to compete in his first national tournament this July at Fargo.
And last, but not least, one more from the land of the Wu-Tang. Michael Lamattina, was able to capture his 4th consecutive Greco-Roman State Championship! Due to his young age group, there’s no spot in Fargo for him, but being able to win so many state titles across all 3 styles at such a young age, only makes the 11 year old that much more prepared, for when he’s of age to begin competing in the tougher divisions, at some of the higher level tournaments, such as Virginia Beach; War at The Shore; NY States(Folkstyle); and of course…Fargo
Don’t be suprised if you see some NYC wrestlers holding stop signs at the end of Fargo. And as the late-great Michael Jackson said “See you in July!”