Noel Thompson, a member of the Beat the Streets Board of Directors in New York and a leader within USA Wrestling, will be donating 200 tickets to the Grapple At the Garden college wrestling event to young people who were recently affected by Superstorm Sandy on the East Coast.

The Grapple at the Garden will be hosted on Sunday, December 16 in world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. A field of 14 top Div. I wrestling teams will be featured in the event, including national powers Iowa, Oklahoma State, Cornell, Ohio State, Missouri, Nebraska and Maryland. There is a strong local angle with Hofstra and Rutgers among the teams featured.

This event will consist of dual meets at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. Also featured are high school wrestling action from New York City from the PSAL Holiday Tournament. There will be eight mats, six for college and two for freestyle.

Thompson, who grew up on Long Island and attended Hofstra, is a native of the region which was devastated by this massive storm. 

Those young people who wish to receive these tickets must identify themselves. 

They must submit a short sentence about what wrestling means in their lives. These young people must be currently participating in a school program either on the middle school or high school level. Children who are younger than middle school will be considered if they are involved on a club program and have consistent participation in local wrestling programs.

Those who are awarded tickets must show ID to pick up their tickets at Will Call at Madison Square Garden on the day of the event.

To submit a request for these free tickets, young people must submit their sentence about wrestling, their name, their age and their hometown along with their contact information to:

Jessica@thompsonglobal.com

USA Wrestling and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame are among the groups who are supporting the local organizers in their efforts to attract a large crowd of fans to the Grapple at the Garden.