Each year, the Beat the Streets Gala is held to celebrate wrestling and raise funds for Beat the Streets Wrestling, Inc., the successful program which has provided wrestling opportunities for thousands of middle school and high school students in New York City.
Caldwell and Metcalf are among the top hopefuls for the 2012 U.S. Olympic team in men’s freestyle wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Both are pursuing their Olympic dreams, and have continued a rivalry which began during their college careers.
Caldwell is a student at North Carolina State University, where he will be a senior next season. He was an NCAA champion in 2009, and was named Outstanding Wrestler. He was also fifth at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Caldwell missed the 2010 college season due to a shoulder surgery, and he will return next year for his final college season.
Metcalf recently completed his college career at the Univ. of Iowa, where he was a two-time NCAA champion (2008, 2010) and a 2009 NCAA runner-up. Metcalf started his career at Virginia Tech and lost one year of eligibility when he transferred to Iowa. He completed his college career with a 108-3 record, and was the 2008 Dan Hodge Trophy winner as the nation’s best college wrestler.
Caldwell and Metcalf met each other three times in college:
The first meeting was on November 24, 2007 at the St. Edward Duals in Lakewood, Ohio, where Caldwell pinned Metcalf in 1:40
The second meeting was on November 24, 2008 at the NWCA All-Star Classic in Columbus, Ohio, where Metcalf scored a 19-3 technical fall over Caldwell in 6:20. Bouts in the NWCA All-Star Classic do not appear in official NCAA statistics.
Their third meeting was on March 21, 2009 in the finals of the NCAA Div. I Championships in St. Louis, Mo., where Caldwell defeated Metcalf, 11-6.
Caldwell has a strong local angle, as he grew up in nearby Rahway, N.J., where he won three state high school titles. Metcalf is originally from Davison, Mich., where he was a four-time state champion and six-time Junior Nationals champion.
Caldwell competes for the Sunkist Kids, while Metcalf is a member of the New York Athletic Club. In freestyle, Caldwell was third in the 2009 World Team Trials. Metcalf was a 2009 U.S. Open runner-up, and a member of the 2006 U.S. Junior World Team.
The bout card of the Beat the Streets Gala will include matches in all three Olympic styles (men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman, women’s freestyle), featuring top Olympic hopefuls from across the nation. In addition, there will be one match featuring New York City Middle School wrestlers and one match featuring New York City High School wrestlers.
There are two other men’s freestyle matches on the card.
Competing at 74 kg/163 lbs. will be 2008 Olympian Ben Askren (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) who will face Moza Fay (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC). Askren was a two-time NCAA champion and four-time finalist for the Univ. of Missouri. He was a 2008 U.S. Open champion. Fay, a two-time All-American for Northern Iowa, recently placed fourth at the 2010 U.S. Open.
2009 World silver medalist Jake Herbert (Evanston, Ill./New York AC) will be featured in a bout at 84 kg/185 lbs., where he will face David Bertolino (Colorado Springs, Colo./Club). Herbert was a two-time NCAA champion for Northwestern (2007, 2009), and has won the U.S. Open in freestyle the last two years. Bertolino starred at Iowa State while in college, and recently placed third at the 2010 U.S. Open.
The Greco-Roman bout will feature 2008 Olympian Spenser Mango (St. Louis, Mo./New York AC) who will battle talented young Ellis Coleman (Oak Park, Ill./New York AC). Mango is currently competing at 55 kg/121 lbs., while Coleman wrestles normally at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Mango was also a member of the 2009 U.S. World Team, and has won U.S. Open titles in 2008 and 2010. Coleman most recently placed fourth at the 2010 U.S. Open. Mango attends Northern Michigan Univ. where he is a member of the U.S. Olympic Education program.
The women’s bout will feature 2007 U.S. World Team member Leigh Jaynes (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), who will battle two-time U.S. Open champion Kelsey Campbell (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 59 kg/130 lbs. Jaynes was a U.S. Open champion in 2007, while Campbell has won the U.S. Open the last two years. Jaynes competed at Missouri Valley College, and has a local connection as she attended Rancocas Valley High School in New Jersey. Campbell wrestled for Arizona State Univ.
The High School match will be a rematch between sophomore Jorge Jiminez of Herbert Lehman High School in the Bronx and senior Andrew Murano of Xavier High School in Manhattan. Jiminez is a two-time PSAL champion. Murano was a runner-up in the Catholic State Championships. Murano won the Dave Ironman Invitational with a win over Jiminez. In the Mayor’s Cup, Jiminez came back and beat Murano in the finals.
The Middle School match will feature City Champion Will Wilson of the Lions Wrestling Club on Staten Island against three-time City Champion Shateek Palmer of Roosevelt Island Middle School in Manhattan.
Registration for the Beat the Streets Gala will begin at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Battle on the Intrepid from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Cocktails will be served from 7:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and awards presentation starting at 8:15 p.m. All participants will disembark from the U.S.S. Intrepid at 11:00 p.m.
There will be a live musical performance by The Lost Trailers at the function.
The minimum donation to support Beat the Streets and reserve admission to the Gala is $150. There are a many number of other levels of contributions available to those who wish to join the excitement and support this worthy cause.
For further information about the event, please visit the website at www.beat-the-streets.org or you may contact Brian Giffin via email at BGiffin@beat-the-streets.org or via phone at 212-777-5702.
Media seeking to cover the event should contact Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling at 719-659-9637 or via email at gabbott@usawrestling.org
Beat the Streets Gala:
Wrestlers in the Nation’s Service
Battle on the Intrepid
On the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York, N.Y., May 13
MAIN EVENT: Men’s freestyle - Darrion Caldwell vs. Brent Metcalf
Undercard:
Middle School: Shateek Palmer vs. Will Wilson
High School: Andrew Murano vs. Jorge Jimenez
Women’s freestyle: Leigh Jaynes vs. Kelsey Campbell
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