NEW YORK — MSG Sports announced today that, for the first time in Madison Square Garden history, collegiate wrestling will take to the mat in the inaugural “Grapple at the Garden, benefiting Beat the Streets.” Bucknell, Chattanooga, Hofstra, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Rutgers will participate in the historic event on Sunday, Dec. 16, at The World’s Most Famous Arena.

Nine of the country’s top college wrestling programs will converge at Madison Square Garden for what will be the first-ever collegiate wrestling dual meet in The Garden’s illustrious history. Five of the participating institutions placed in the top 25 during the NCAA Division I Championships. They include Iowa with a third place finish, Ohio State with a fifth place finish and Oklahoma State, which finished in sixth place. Also included are Nebraska and Hofstra, which finished 21st and 23rd respectively.

Oklahoma State and Iowa are by far two of the greatest dynasties in all of college athletics and, together, have a combined total of 57 NCAA wrestling championships. This includes 34 championships for Oklahoma State, which marks a record for the most titles held by one university in any college sport in the country.

“Madison Square Garden has a long and legendary history with collegiate athletics and we look forward to welcoming the finest collegiate wrestlers in the country on December 16,” said Joel Fisher, executive vice president, MSG Sports. “There’s no better way to host our first-ever collegiate wrestling meet than with these nine top universities with first-rate wrestling programs.”

The “Grapple at the Garden, benefiting Beat the Streets” will showcase the many talents of college’s top wrestlers including Iowa’s two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough, who recently captured the 125 lb. championship at both the Big Ten and NCAA Championships this season as well as Ohio State’s Logan Stieber, who in his first season captured the 133 lb. title at the NCAA Championships, defeating No. 1 seed and defending national champion Jordan Oliver from Oklahoma State.

Long Island native and 2011 ACC Coach of the Year, Kerry McCoy will lead his Maryland Terrapins into the Garden when they take on Nebraska and Ohio State. McCoy, a two-time Olympian, four-time World Cup Champion and three-time NCAA All-American, captured the silver medal in the 2003 World Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden.

Additionally, prior to rebuilding The Ohio State University wrestling program, head coach Tom Ryan spent 11 years as head coach at Hofstra. Ryan, who grew up on Long Island, and his Buckeyes team will now face off against his former school during session one on December 16th.

The full day of wrestling on December 16 will consist of two separate sessions with the first starting at 10:30 a.m. with Rutgers vs. Chattanooga, Maryland vs. Nebraska, Ohio State vs. Hofstra and Iowa vs. Bucknell. Session two will begin at 12:30 p.m. and feature Rutgers vs. Nebraska, Oklahoma State vs. UTC, Ohio State vs. Maryland and Iowa vs. Hofstra.

Tickets will be available at a later date. To sign up for the exclusive Pre-Sale, please visit http://www.MSGINSIDER.com.

–From MSG Sports