Fourteen athletes punched their ticket to the 2022 Senior World Championships in front of a lively crowd of 3,000 wrestling fans at the 12th Beat the Streets Annual Benefit on Wednesday at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
As great as it was for spectators and athletes, it was an even better night for Beat the Streets, which raised more than $950,000 to help in its efforts to make a lifelong impact on New York City student-athletes through the benefits and skills acquired through wrestling.
Olympic champions Jordan Burroughs (74 kg men’s freestyle), Helen Maroulis (57 kg women’s freestyle) and David Taylor (86 kg men’s freestyle), Olympic bronze medalists Sarah Hildebrandt (50kg women’s freestyle) and Kyle Dake (74kg men’s freestyle) and World bronze medalist G’Angelo Hancock (97kg Greco-Roman) were among the winners. The victors of each Final X New York Championship Series will represent the Team USA at the Senior World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 10-18.
“This was a great night for wrestling, in large part because of the support and generosity of our community,” said Brendan Buckley, Executive Director of Beat the Streets. “They were treated to a night of exciting matches, newly crowned champions and a celebration of everything that the sport can be, and the best part is that the real winners are the many kids that will benefit from our programs year-round because of it.”
Wednesday represented the first in-person Beat the Streets benefit event since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic safety guidelines prohibited spectators in 2020 and 2021. Beat the Streets hosted a virtual benefit on the banks of the Hudson River in 2020 in Hoboken, New Jersey. The 2019 Benefit was also held at the Hulu Theater, and previous benefits have been at other historic New York locations such as Times Square, Grand Central Terminal and South Street Seaport. These unique and electrifying annual events help Beat the Streets New York raise millions of dollars to support local youth wrestling programs which empower young people in New York City. To provide contributions to Beat the Streets, visit http://btsny.org/donate.
For the full results, visit https://go.teamusa.org/3MtX4ah.