California USA Wrestling, the state association in California, has set an all-time record for membership from a state by going over the 15,000 athlete member mark for the 2003-04 USA Wrestling membership season.    This state association, under the leadership of state chairperson Duane Morgan of Hollister and a very active Board, has been the largest of USA Wrestling's state organizations for many years. There are more amateur wrestlers in California than any other state.    As of statistics on October 6, California's athlete membership for the 2003-04 year was 15,168.    The previous record for state athlete membership was set by California during the 2000-01 membership year, with 14,423 athlete members. California had more than 14,000 athlete members for four straight years before breaking the 15,000 plateau this season.    "We are very excited about this," said Morgan. "There is no reason we can't break 16,000 members next year. We have great potential here in California. We are going to do what it takes to build wrestling."    "Our volunteers at the grass roots level are doing a great job," said Morgan. "They are developing their clubs and getting more kids into wrestling. Our competition schedule is getting better, as well. We are attracting two kinds of wrestlers, those who are involved in a local level who have fun with wrestling, and those who are very competitive."    Morgan is proud of a program that California USA Wrestling has developed, where top wrestling stars are giving free clinics to youth who are USA Wrestling members. Among the stars who have provided clinics for California USA Wrestling are Olympic champion Rulon Gardner, Olympic medalist Chris Campbell and two-time Olympian Kerry McCoy. The association has also created a program where underprivileged youth are provided a USA Wrestling membership as part of their involvement with a wrestling clinic. Morgan expects these programs to grow in the future.    "USA Wrestling commends and congratulates the California USA Wrestling state association for achieving this milestone in membership," said Mark Scott, USA Wrestling Director of State Services. "Reaching the 15,000 competitor membership mark has been a goal of our California association and a tribute to the volunteers that offer so many programs in our largest membership state."    "The USA Wrestling association in California remains a key factor in our grassroots programming," said Scott. "The leadership in California USA Wrestling has made a commitment to insure that USA Wrestling members in California are involved in as many local, state, regional and national programs as possible. It is obvious that this high level of programming is reflected in this membership milestone."