Helen Maroulis: Beat The Streets Is One Of My Favorite Events To Wrestle In

Ryan Mayer

25-year-old Helen Maroulis is a rising star in freestyle wrestling. She's won 10 straight matches at the World Championship and Olympic level dating back to the 2014 World Championships bronze medal match against Poland's Katarzyna Krawcyzk. In the midst of that winning streak, Maroulis captured gold medals in her weight class at both the 2015 Worlds and the 2016 Olympics in Rio last summer.

Now, Maroulis will get to show off her skills in the Big Apple at the Beat The Streets New York City Benefit on Wednesday, May 17th when Team USA takes on Team Japan. The event takes place smack dab in the middle of Times Square at 47th Street and 7th Avenue beginning at 3 p.m. with some exhibition matches for youth wrestlers before the PSAL Girls Dual Meet Championships at 4:45, and concluding with Team USA vs. Team Japan shortly thereafter.

Maroulis stopped by the CBS Local studios on Tuesday to discuss her journey to the gold medal and the importance of the Beat The Streets event.

"Beat the Streets, it's one of my favorite events to wrestle in," said Maroulis. "New York City, it's electric, there's an energy to it that, really doesn't compare to anything else. They put a mat in the middle of Times Square and they have Team USA going against top, world-class competitors. It's just a great way to fund raise for inner-city kids to have the chance to wrestle. It's really amazing when you start to meet the kids and talk to them and you hear their stories and where they come from. Maybe it's their first or second year wrestling, and, it may not be something they do for the rest of their life, but it is changing stuff for them. They take that into whatever else they do."

Watch the full interview above and you can catch Helen and the rest of Team USA in Times Square tonight. For full information on the Beat The Streets event, visit their website.