Penn Gottfried departs Beat the Streets New York to start teaching career

The New York native will remain involved in New York City wrestling as an elementary, middle and high school coach.

Beat the Streets New York and Penn Gottfried will mutually part ways, BTSNY's Board of Directors and Executive Director Brendan Buckley announced Wednesday.

Gottfried will remain in his role as BTSNY's Director of Youth Programming through the month of August before beginning his teaching career. He will teach math and science at PS 5 Port Morris in the Bronx.

“I have known Penn since 2008 when I began recruiting him to Columbia University when he was a junior in high school," Buckley said. "Since I began working with him as a student-athlete at Columbia and then years later here at Beat the Streets, I have always been blown away by his work ethic and enthusiasm.

"Furthermore, he carved himself what is truly a unique and vital role here at BTS and elevated our middle school wrestling program known as the Junior League into an impact-driven program focused on introducing NYC youth to the sport as well as helping them lay a foundation for their future success on and off the mat. While he will be missed greatly, he laid a foundation that will benefit so many youth wrestlers here in NYC for years to come."

Gottfried has overseen BTSNY's youth programming since 2017 after being a part-time assistant coach for BTSNY and Poly Prep in Brooklyn. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Columbia University, where he was a three-year starter and team captain on the wrestling team. The Westchester, New York native also won an individual state high school championship in 2010.

"Beat The Streets has been a once in a lifetime experience for me. Heck, I found my wife at this job!," Gottfried said. "It is one of the most unique organizations and I am extremely grateful to all those people who gave me a chance and allowed me to combine two of the things that I am most passionate about, wrestling and impacting youth. Thank you to Kyra Barry and Carl Fronhofer for guiding me into this job. When graduating from college, I only wanted to continue in the sport of wrestling. Having a job where I was around kids all the time was the furthest thing from my mind, however Carl put me in touch with Kyra and the rest is history.

"I also must thank my former coach and now boss, Brendan Buckley, for putting up with me as an athlete and then as my supervisor on and off again for 12 years. Thank you to everyone I worked with, from the coaches at Beat The Streets to coaches throughout NYC. You are amazing and I am in awe of your dedication and support every day.

"Finally, thank you to all the amazing wrestlers I had the pleasure of working with for the past seven years. Some of you I knew when you were 10 years old and now you are graduating high school! I have watched many of you grow up into amazing young people and I am so fortunate and grateful to have been a small part of your journey. I am so proud of all of you, and I can't wait to see where life takes you next. I'm excited to stay in NYC and stay involved with wrestling as an elementary, middle and high school coach. Y'all can't get rid of me that easily!"

Since being founded in 2005, Beat the Streets New York has pioneered a movement that now includes 150 individual wrestling programs, a youth league and the first girls high school league.

BTSNY works to develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and strengthen the New York City wrestling culture. We aim to make a lifelong impact on student athletes through the lessons learned on the wrestling mat -- discipline, perseverance, self-reliance, humility and a strong work ethic. Discover how you can make a meaningful contribution to our work at btsny.org/donate.