Cambridge, MA — On February 20th, Boston Youth Wrestling and Beat the Streets Providence hosted an All-Star Dual Meet at Harvard University for student-athletes from both cities. The match was hosted at Maklin Athletic Center prior to the Harvard and Brown University dual meet.

Nikan Hodjat, a teacher and wrestling coach at the John D. O’Bryant School was thrilled to be a part fo the event. “Wrestling on Harvard’s iconic crimson mat delivered a powerful message of belonging to all the youth who participated in the All-Star match. Just as the sport of wrestling teaches that you won’t know your limits unless you keep stretching them, so too do these events inform our kids that they have the capacity to go anywhere and do anything, from taking the mat at an Ivy League institution to earning a spot at that same school as a scholar in the future. BYW and Beat the Streets continue to demonstrate that they create invaluable, incomparable opportunities for youth development.”

Brad Lewis, a teacher and wrestling coach at Excel Academy Charter High School agreed. “When we first started, our goal was to get kids on the mat and introduce them to wrestling. Now that we’re established, it isn’t enough to just get them on the mat — we want them to pursue excellence on it. Bringing our kids to an elite university and getting to watch high-level D1 college wrestling gives them that opportunity to see how high they can reach. Some of those kids take that experience and can see themselves one day wrestling for a school like Harvard or Brown. They start setting those goals now, and we can help them put the work in to make it happen.”