High-flying Team USA Women Soar at Beat the Streets Los Angeles 5th Annual Benefit

Posted: May 1, 2019

April 5, 2019| This past Sunday, over 1,200 people gathered at The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles for the Beat the Streets Los Angeles 5th Annual Benefit.

Wrestlers, students, coaches, families, and supporters packed the theatre to witness Hollywood Wrestles Bollywood.

As doors opened, USA’s first ever Olympic Gold Medalist for Women’s Wrestling, Helen Maroulis, hosted a meet-and-greet with fans and served as a commentator for the live-stream hosted by Trackwrestling with former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Josh Barnett. Click here for the step-and-repeat photo gallery.

The U.S. Freestyle Women’s Team delivered under the spotlight, winning eight of ten matches. Highlighting the USA’s impressive run were falls by Whitney Conder (50kg), Forrest Molinari (65kg), and four-time World Champion, Adeline Gray (76kg). At the 62kg match-up, California native Mallory Velte defeated 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist, Sakshi Malik in an exciting 8-4 win. The loudest roar of the evening occurred when Alli Ragan (59kg) tossed her opponent Sarita in a high-arching suplex!

Following the competition, the U.S. athletes met fans in The Wiltern lobby for photos and signatures on an unending stream of hats, shirts, shoes, and backpacks.

Attendees of the 5th Annual Benefit reception supported Beat the Streets Los Angeles through a silent auction, live auction, and the ever-popular donor wall to raise critical funds to help us empower and transform the lives of more youth in Los Angeles through the sport of wrestling.

Beat the Streets Los Angeles senior wrestler, Mia Galvan, was awarded a $1,000 ‘Youth Empowerment Award’ for exemplifying the qualities of wrestling mastery, healthy living, academic achievement, and character development through her dedication to Beat the Streets Los Angeles and the sport of wrestling. The San Fernando Tigers, Los Angeles’ first ever CIF State Wrestling Team Champions, were honored on stage for their historic achievement.

Benefit attendees were also treated to the short film ‘From the Streets to the Mats’ by Nate Adams and Travis Long, which gave an inside look at the impact Beat the Streets Los Angeles has on the youth in our programs.

Along with all those who packed The Wiltern, Beat the Streets Los Angeles would like to thank IDS Real Estate, Resilite, Cliff Keen, USA Wrestling, and the dozens of generous individual donors who contributed to our organization and helped make our 5th Annual Benefit a success.

Photo Credit: Tony Rotundo