Brooklyn Tech and Grand Street — PSAL mat champs

Two Brooklyn schools – Brooklyn Tech and Grand Street Campus – dominated the mats with Public Schools Athletic League wrestling tournament wins.

At Herbert Lehman High School in the Bronx, the Engineers of Brooklyn Tech dominated, scoring 247 points to outdistance runner-up Jamaica (213 points) and Forest Hills (193.5 points) for the team title, last week. Tech crowned six individual champions:

Esther Nawaday (103 lbs.)
Amir Kodra (144 lbs.)
Xue Cheng Zhao (150 lbs.)
Micah Parra-Oreliana (157 lbs.)
Steven Baudille (175 lbs.)
Alexander Novikov (190 lbs.)

Meanwhile, at Grover Cleveland High School in Queens, Grand Street Campus captured the team championship with 223.5 points, followed by Bronx Science (190.5 points) and Seward Park (178.5 points). Leading the Wolves were individual champions:

Christian Lozada (103 lbs.)
Moses Goyenechea (126 lbs.)
Andres Rodriguez (144 lbs.)
Vincent Hui (190 lbs.)

* *

You’re bound to get a positive result if you outscore your opponent every quarter and that’s exactly how it played out for Medgar Evers College Prep, on Jan. 16. They blew out Uncommon, 71-34. MECP has now won five contests by 20 or more points this season.

Freshman Princeton Pascall scored 20 points with five assists for the winners — Matthew Vanzie added 16 and six boards. Prep, with the win evens their record at 8-8. The loss was the fourth-straight for Uncommon and dropped their record to 5-6.

Two days earlier, MECP dumped EBC High School for Public Service – Bushwick, 72-51. This time Kameron Tucker scored 15 and had six steals; Abraham Omorodion had 17 points and 11 boards.

* *

If Bushwick was feeling good — fresh off their 94-66 takedown of Uncommon on Jan. 14, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit.

The Tigers fell just short of the Barton Panthers, 52-50, Friday. Bushwick’s defeat dropped their record to 8-4. As for Barton, with the win, they broke their four-game losing streak and moved their record to 2-5.

Transit Tech lost to Achievement First back in December of 2025 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result last Thursday, 69-58.

South Shore suffered their biggest defeat since Nov. 26. They were beaten by the Eagle Academy for Young Men II, 71-44, Saturday. The Vikings’ loss dropped their record to 9-7. As for Eagle Academy, the win was their ninth in-a-row, bringing their record to 12-2.

Erasmus Hall extended their losing streak to six on Sunday, dropping them to 1-8. They took a blow against the Wings Academy, falling 90-53. The Wings made it two-in-a-row and bumped their record to 12-7. JJ Addison and Mohamed Fofana led the winners with Addison dropping a double-double with 30 points and 13 boards; while Fofana added 23 points and eight assists.

* *

Canarsie won twice last week, topping Boys and Girls High and beating Erasmus, 66-42 moving them to a 12-6 mark.

Lincoln lost to Eagle Academy II back in January of 2025 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Jan. 16 falling 86-57.

* *

The 2026 PSAL Mandatory Baseball Coaches Clinics are set and the Brooklyn/Staten Island Clinic is set for Tuesday, Feb. 3, at FDR High School. The Clinician: University of Mount St. Vincent, head baseball coach, Matthew Rienzi.

* *

The Long Island University cheer, dance and Finley teams claimed their fourth consecutive national championship, combining to claim first place in Open Spirit Program Game Day Division at the 2026 Universal Cheer Association/Universal Dance Association College Cheerleading & Dance Team National Championship Friday at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort.

Led by first year head coaches Elizabeth Kicklighter (cheer) and Cassandra McMillan (dance), the Sharks posted a total score of 86.3500, topping the University of South Dakota (85.600). LIU posted the highest raw score and received zero deductions.

LIU’s men’s volleyball team earned its first win of the 2026 season, Jan. 15, defeating Dominican University, 3-1 on the road. Freshman Ike Vernon led LIU with 18 kills.

The Lady basketball Sharks of LIU take a 10-7 (5-1 Northeast Conference) record when they host Wagner College, Saturday (Jan. 24) at 2 p.m. Senior Kadidia Toure shot 10 of 17 for 22 points in a 59-58 heartbreaking loss to Fairleigh Dickinson University on Saturday.

The LIU men’s basketball team is coming off a 66-59 win over LeMoyne, Monday evening. Greg Gordon led the Sharks (11-8, 5-1) with 16 points; they travel to Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts, Friday (Jan. 23) for a 7 p.m, tipoff.

* *

Coming into Senior Day 2026, the Brooklyn College swimming and diving team would make the adjustment to host non-conference play against the Bard College Raptors. Prior to the start of the meet, Brooklyn College seniors Almina Tsedenova, Ciera Stenbar, Ayatallah Elkotby, Zurab Chkhartisvili, and Christine Bailey, were honored by head coach Brian Jensen. Both the women and men would find a way to defeat their respective sides from Bard by scores of 99-56 and 152-50 respectively.

Snapping a three-game winning streak to start the new year, the men’s basketball team of Brooklyn College fell to John Jay, 56-43 at home, Friday. Brooklyn moves to 6-10 (4-2 City University of New York Athletic Conference).

Led by senior forward Sheily Quezada’s season-high 26 points and 12 rebounds, the Brooklyn College women’s basketball team cruised to their sixth-straight win over John Jay, 81-60 at home Friday. BC improved to 13-3 (6-0 CUNYAC).

* *

Justin Munson led the St. Joseph’s (Brooklyn) University Bears with 21 points, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to Yeshiva University 95-75, Saturday night at the Max Stern Athletic Center in New York.

The Lady Bears dropped an 83-52 decision at The Hill, Saturday in Skyline Conference action to Manhattanville University. Emma Centrella (Varese, Italy) led the game with 11 rebounds while Kristen Donovan had a team-leading 13 points for the Bears.

* *

The Medgar Evers College Indoor Track and Field teams dominated the CUNYAC awards the first two weeks of the new year as Brianna Lindo – Track Athlete and Rookie of the Week – Reco Griffith – Track Athlete of the Week – Omaar Hinds – Field Athlete of the Week – and Pharell Fowler —Honorable Mention – all won honors.

Lindo had a third-place finish in the 60m hurdles (9.38) – while setting a new school record. She also placed fourth in the 60m (8.30) – a personal best. In the high jump she cleared 1.45 meters (4 feet 9 inches) to earn a CUNYAC qualifying mark, placing among the top competitors in a strong DII and DIII field.

Griffith captured first place in the 60m (6.99) He followed that with a second place finish in the 200m (23.07).

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] X: @AndyFurmanFSR