News

Mark your calendars! The annual gala is set to take place Saturday, June 1s at a NEW location being the Offshore Rooftop at Navy  Pier! 

This new scenic venue will aid in this year’s theme of “Honoring the Past. Winning the Present. Building the Future.”

Join us for an evening of fun, friendship and fundraising as we work to build an ecosystem of wrestling in Chicago and transform the lives of City kids. 

Tickets available in March!

To sponsor the event & learn more info visit btschicago.org/gala

20 high school wrestlers recently attended a free in-house officials clinic geared to get these wrestlers certified officials. Led by IHSA Official, Tony Clarke, this experience offers BTSC wrestlers an outlet to give back to the sport.

In line with the mission to build Life Champions, this opportunity provides employment to wrestlers, laying the early groundwork for what to expect as they age and enter the workforce. 

Wrestlers who attended will be certified to officiate during the 5-week CPS SCORE! season beginning in February. 

Aside from our highly accomplished world-class coaching staff, BTSC also has a number of college wrestlers that intern & volunteer with us during the Summer months.

We wanted to highlight the interns & volunteers who are making noise at the collegiate level. We do our best to ensure that every coach, intern, & volunteer has the skill & knowledge to help our wrestlers succeed at the highest levels. Read below for an update on how our 2023 interns & volunteers are doing on the college scene. 

Torry Early (Chadron State College) recently upset a top 10 DII ranked wrestler at 149 lbs.

Andre “Porky” Giurini (Triton College) currently ranked top ten in the NJCAA rankings at 133 lbs.

Cameron Hargrove (William Penn University) currently ranked top 20 in the NAIA rankings at 165 lbs.

Sydney Park (North Central College) recently took 5th place in 136 lb bracket at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.

Cameron White (Triton College) currently ranked top 10 in the NJCAA rankings at 157 lbs.

Ghee Rachal (Triton College) currently ranked top 10 in the NJCAA rankings at 197 lbs.

Gunnar Garriques (University of Chicago) currently ranked top 15 in the DIII rankings at 285 lbs. 

We are looking forward to following all these amazing athletes & mentors for the remainder of their season and are excited to hopefully welcome them back this summer!

Life Champion’s Academy wrestlers volunteer after a busy weekend of their own competitions to run the annual BTSC Winter Brawl featuring 300+ IKWF wrestlers. 

Hosted in Hope Academy’s Athletic Complex, the Life Champions Academy managed the competition frenzy by running tables, managing gear tables, & helping with concessions. Many also stayed to clean up after the tournament concluded. 

Their efforts contributed to a great day of wrestling for our little ones! 

Yesterday registration for the 2024 CPS SCORE! wrestling program has officially opened!

For those who do not know, SCORE! is the official interscholastic athletics league for CPS elementary students. Beat The Streets Chicago is recognized as the official wrestling organization for SCORE! meaning we manage all wrestling programming. We are also the only outside organization to run a SCORE! sports program.  

With 25+ locations ran out of schools across the City, CPS students, boys & girls, are able practice at any one of them free of cost. This 5-week program that practices after-school 2 times per week also gives beginner wrestlers the opportunity to compete at multiple events including a final CPS SCORE! City Championships.

Last year we had over 300 wrestlers register from over 100 different CPS Schools. With added locations for the 2024 season, we are excited to expand upon these numbers!

More info about the SCORE! program can be found here 

View our 2022-23 Impact Report out!

Check out everything our community has helped us accomplish over the past calendar year down below.

With help from Beat The Streets Chicago, Michele Clarke Magnet High School announced the addition of a new wrestling program. 

By providing mats, wrestling shoes, & headgear, BTSC ensured these wrestlers got the most out of their first practice. 

Located in the Austin neighborhood, Michele Clarke will join the CPL wrestling conference and compete against many of the other CPS schools. 

With the addition of Michele Clarke, the prevalence & skill of wrestling within CPS schools will continue to elevate! 

Over a year ago BTSC began a project rooted in honoring Chicago’s rich wrestling history that would both motivate and inspire BTSC wrestlers for years to come.

Inspired by the art located in the University of Illinois wrestling room, BTSC set out to create a mural encompasing the names of every state qualifier & all state wrestler from City schools since 1975. As well as photos from both BTSC over the years & historical photos from Chicago wrestling’s past, & finally a string of fathead photos individually honoring Chicago wrestling legends & Life Champions. 

3000+ names, 500+ photos, & 80+ fatheads later, this mural is complete. 

On October 29th we had the pleasure of hosting an event to celebrate & honor those on the wall. With over 100 guests, we saw several amazing pioneers of Chicago wrestling’s past come to be apart of Chicago wrestling’s future. They laid the foundations for what is now a great culture of wrestling in the City and it is our hope that this mural pushes our wrestlers to find even greater success in all facets of life and to eventually see themselves on the mural. 

This preseason saw many of our wrestlers find success at the Grappler Fall Classic & Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals, both of which are widely regarded as two of the toughest competitions ahead of the high school season. 

The men & women left with a total of nine placers from the Grappler Fall Classic held in kalamazoo, MI early October. Stand-out performances include Mia Vazquez, who went undefeated pinning all of her opponents en route to a Grappler Fall Classic title. 

Similarly, Sean Larkin displayed an incredible amount of grit in his run to a 3rd place finish. After losing early in the day, Larkin rattled off 11 straight wins to take home a bronze medal after 12 hard-fought matches. 

Larkin would find continued success at the Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals located in Cedar Rapids, IA. After wrestling eight matches in two days, Larkin earned himself a spot on the podium and an eighth place finish that secured All-America honors. 

Along with Larkin, Roy Phelps found himself on the podium and earned All-America honors with a fourth place finish in the Preseason Nationals heavyweight field. After losing early, Phelps earned two big pins to land in the 3rd place match. 

Gabino Perez and Fernando Lopez also had notable results with Lopez finishing two matches shy of the podium and Perez one match away from All-American status. 

October proved to a great month for several high school BTSC wresters & we cannot wait to see the hard work in the off season pay off in Champaign come February.