The Metropolitan Wrestling Association, host of the ASICS 2005 East Coast National Beach Wrestling Championships, ran a test run of the new sport competition on the beach in Long Beach, N.Y. on Saturday, July 9.    Local wrestling leaders, coaches and athletes came together for a few hours in the late afternoon to set up the beach wrestling rings, try out the rules of the sport, and get practice in officiating and competing in the new international wrestling style.    This is in preparation for the ASICS 2005 East Coast National Beach Wrestling Championships, which is set for Long Beach, N.Y., on Long Island, Saturday, August 13.    FILA, the international wrestling federation, announced that Beach Wrestling would be added as a new international wrestling style during the 2004 Olympic Games. This will be the first truly national-level event in the United States in the new sport of beach wrestling.    The test run was covered extensively by USA Today, which ran a lengthy feature on the sport of beach wrestling, the test run activities and the upcoming ASICS 2005 East Coast National Beach Wrestling Championships.     A copy of this article, entitled "Wrestling's new world rises from sand" was written by Gary Mihoces and is posted online at:  http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2005-07-11-beach-wrestling_x.htm    An afternoon rain did not cause any setbacks in the schedule, but it cleared the beach of many of its people. The organizers were able to set up the ring and get the competition going as planned.  There were a dozen wrestlers from Long Beach High School who wrestled in the test matches.    "The idea was to give the officials a chance to score some matches. It is a brand new sport, and nobody has seen it," said Neil Duncan, Tournament Director.  "People were hanging off the rail on the boardwalk, yelling and getting excited. When you get dumped in the sand,  you get sand all over your face. It is an interesting look. "    "We have some things to work out. There is no doubt that this will be an interesting event to see. It should get a lot of attention. These are real athletes in wrestling, a highly trained athlete. People will recognize it right away," said Duncan.    Those who attended the event left with a positive feeling about the new sport, and enjoyed a summer afternoon together.    "It was everything that we hoped where we attracted hundreds of people to sit and watch kids wrestling and more importantly, having fun doing it," said Al Bevilacqua, director of event promotions. "Beach Wrestling is fun and you can see after it ended, other people who came to watch began wrestling themselves."    "It was a fun day and we eagerly await the 13th of August when the 'real fun' begins.  All we need now are kids to come and have fun as well as participate in the tournament," he said.    All interested participants should sign up right away and make housing arrangements.  Visit the official event website at:  http://www.mwausa.org/usa-beach-wrestling-championship-2005.html    Posted on the webpage is a pdf file of the event application. In addition, detailed information on hotels and camping opportunities are included on the webpage, as well as the official rules and regulations of the competition.     There will be five competition divisions for the Beach Wrestling event:   High School Boys   High School Girls   College   Open Men   Open Women    Registration and medical check for the competition will be on Saturday, August 13 from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. A rules clinic is set for 11:30 a.m. The wrestling will begin promptly at 12:00 Noon.    Competitors must be members of USA Wrestling. The entry fee is $20 prior to the event, or $25 at registration.    Men must wear athletic swim trunks, and women must wear one-piece or two-piece bathing suits. The tournament will be a double-elimination bracketing format. Athletes wrestle on a sand surface, with a 20-foot diameter circle marked in the sand. Matches start in the standing position and last three minutes.    All excess revenues generated from this competition will be donated to the Metropolitan Wrestling Association's [MWA] Beat The Streets program.  The MWA's long term goal is to establish folkstyle wrestling in all 150 NYC high schools, while creating a model to introduce and develop the sport in the nation's urban areas.  There are currently 25 high schools with wrestling in New York City.    You can get additional information by contacting Sally Schmitt of TW Promotions, Inc. at 631-588-4343 x104, or by e-mailing Sallytwp@aol.com