Massive Support At Event At Bryant Park Grill Following Dual Meets Featuring USA-Iran-Russia At New York's Grand Central Terminal

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NEW YORK, May 17, 2013 – A landmark day of wrestling and international cooperation was capped by an historic evening of celebration and philanthropy on Wednesday as USA Wrestling and Beat The Streets Wrestling, Inc., a youth development organization that believes wrestling is the superlative tool for nurturing boys and girls into capable young men and women, teamed to raise a record of $1.5 million for the organization. It began with “The Rumble on the Rails,” a pair of dual meets featuring top squads from USA, Iran and Russia, powerhouses in the sport, held at Grand Central Terminal, followed by the annual Beat the Streets Awards Gala at Bryant Park Grill.

Team USA dominated Russia on the evening card, winning eight of nine matches in an event broadcast live on Universal Sports. The USA men’s freestyle team got things rolling by sweeping all five of their matches, as Coleman Scott, Logan Stieber, Brent Metcalf, David Taylor and Jordan Burroughs earned wins. Helen Maroulis won her women's freestyle event, and Kendrick Sanders and Ben Provisor took Greco-Roman matches, with Evgeni Saleev salvaging the final match for the Russians. Earlier in the day, Iran defeated the USA, 6-1 in a men’s freestyle dual in the same venue, with four-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake winning for the Americans.

The event showed unique cooperation between the three nations as part of the Keep Olympic Wrestling movement. Although their governments do not always agree, the wrestling leaders in these nations have a strong working relationship.

“The success of 'The Rumble on the Rails' and Beat The Streets Awards Gala show the strength and solidarity of the sport of wrestling, top to bottom and across international lines,” said Mike Novogratz, Beat The Streets Chairman. “The entire community has come together in support of the dual goals of regaining Olympic status in 2020 and helping Beat the Streets in its critical work of benefiting disadvantaged and at-risk youth through this great sport.”

The Gala also honored a host of athletes and contributors to wrestling during the evening. They included: 

• Become Your Own Dream Scholarship • Rosemary Flores, Curtis
• Junior League Wrestler of the Year • David Berkovich, Elite Wrestling Club
• Female Student-Athlete Award Winner • Kim Cardenas, Petrides
• Male Student-Athlete Award Winner • Kevin Tynes, Brooklyn Tech
• Lady Liberty Award Winner • Rosemary Flores, Curtis
• Atlas Award Winner • Adis Radoncic, Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy
• Junior League Coach of the Year • Tim Prugar, New Heights Academy
• Boys High School Assistant Coach of the Year • John Cichon, Petrides
• Boys High School Coach of the Year • Chris Milani, Cardozo HS
• Girls High School Coach of the Year • Chris Alena, Curtis
• Man of the Year • Kyle Dake, Cornell University

ABOUT BEAT THE STREETS

The mission of Beat the Streets is to develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and to strengthen the culture of New York City wrestling. BTSW works directly with the New York City Department of Education in a public-private partnership to help New York City's student-athletes achieve their personal and athletic goals. Through the operation of wrestling programs in middle and high schools in the five boroughs, BTSW and the DOE provide a safe, positive atmosphere in which disadvantaged and at-risk youth can learn the essential life skills of physical fitness, teamwork, and self-empowerment. The goal of fostering strong, dedicated, and optimistic kids is delivered through coaching, after-school programs, and mentoring. More information can be found at www.beat-the-streets.org.

Click on images for articles from the following news outlets:

USA Today

News Times

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

NBC New York

Newsday

Channel News Asia

France 24

Over the weekend of May 11-12, BTS wrestlers and coaches travelled to Binghamton for the NY State Cadet and Junior Freestyle and Greco-Roman State Championsips.  BTS emerged with the team title in three out of four tournaments, taking home the first place trophy in Junior Freestyle, Junior Greco, and Cadet Greco.  BTS placed 5th as a team in Cadet Freestyle.

In addition to the team titles, four BTS wrestlers won individual titles.  John Luke Destefano (Poly Prep), Zafar Iskandarov (Brooklyn International), Dolan McColgan (Petrides), and Cheick Ndiaye (Brooklyn International) all took home individual gold medals.

Wrestlers who placed in the top 3 of their weight class qualify to represent New York at the National Tournament held in July in Fargo, ND.  Match results for BTS's national qualifiers are below.

For full results, visit trackwrestling.com.

Read more: Beat The Streets Wins Team Titles at NY States

Rumble on the Rails, the 2013 Gala is almost here! 

Ticket sales have closed and we are going through final preparations. The Iranians, the Russians, and the Americans are all in New York City and getting ready to wrestle. It's going to be an epic afternooon and night of wrestling and celebrating the greatest sport on Earth! 

If you didn't get a ticket, have no fear -- both matches will be broadcast live on the NBC outlets listed below and they will be streamed live, as well. See below for full details.

Television & Webstreaming

• The USA vs. Iran match will be broadcast LIVE on NBC Sports Network from 3:30pm - 5:00pm, ET.
• The USA vs. Russia match will be broadcast LIVE on NBC Universal Sports from 6:00pm - 7:30pm, ET.
• Webstreaming will be available on themat.com & teamusa.org.

The Iranian contingent flew into JFK Airport this afternoon and they were greeted by Beat the Streets. In addition to the seven wrestlers taking part in the Gala this coming Wednesday, May 15th, there were also documentary crews, coaches, athletic support staff, and media.

Hooman Tavakolian, co-founder of the Become Your Own Dream Scholarship, is serving as Team Leader and interpreter. Thank you, Mo!

Ticket sales for the Rumble on the Rails close at 11:59pm on Monday 5/13.

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For a recap of the day 1 action in Cadet Greco-Roman and Junior Freestyle, check out the article by NYWrestlingNews.com.

Brackets: Cadet Greco | Junior Freestyle

On Wednesday, May 8th, the Curtis Warriors wrestling team downed the Canarsie Girls Wrestling Team at home for the inaugural PSAL Girls Dual Meet Title by a score of 29-9. 

Both teams scored convincing victories in Monday's semi-final round to advance to the finals, with Curtis defeating Brooklyn Tech 23-13 and Canarsie beating New Dorp 24-12.

Curtis finishes the season with a perfect 10-0 record.  Curtis won the PSAL Individual Title on April 27th at Wingate behind five individual champions.  The unquestioned leader of the Warriors is Rosemary Flores.  In addition to a recent City Title, Rosemary has multiple national titles on her resume.  

Canarsie also finished second to Curtis at the individual championships behind a balanced team effort.  Canarsie finishes the year with a record of 8-2.  Their other defeat came at the hands of Curtis 24-14 on April 9th.

Congratulations to all the girls who participated in this first-ever PSAL Girls Wrestling League! You should all be very proud of yourselves for being ground breakers!

The champions of the girls individual city championships are headed for Orlando, FL for the Body Bar National Championships this weekend, May 10th-12th. Look for more coverage of that as the weekend progresses.