Numerous Olympic sports stars will attend the 2007 NJ Night of Champions Gala on October 20th at the Hilton Short Hills in Short Hills, N.J. 

Many members of the 1972 and 1984 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Teams are expected to attend this spectacular event.

The NJ Night of Champions is a celebration of the Olympic relationship between the USA and China. Those who attend will witness the presentation of a USA Wrestling Lifetime Achievement Award to wrestling icon Bill Farrell. In addition, one of China's greatest athletic stars in history will attend.

Perhaps no other person has had a more positive effect on the Olympic sport of wrestling than Bill Farrell. His management skills combined with his knowledge of the sport brought the United States to a level of success unsurpassed in the preceding fifty years. 

Farrell coached the 1972 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Team to three golds, two silvers and one bronze medal, one of the greatest performances in American wrestling history. Farrell's greatest influence may have been behind the scenes. Farrell took unpopular positions that eventually resulted in fairness for his athletes who had faced discrimination that is almost unheard of today. Amazingly, he was able to out-maneuver the powerful "iron curtain" deal making, ensuring American athletes could compete on a level playing field in many international competitions. 

Members of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team team committed to attend the event are Sergio Gonzales, Dan Gable, Wayne Wells, John Peterson and Wayne Baughman. Gable and Wells won gold medals and Peterson won a silver medal at the 1972 Munich Games.

Farrell's coaching colleagues and fellow National Wrestling Hall of Famers Bill Weick and Jim Peckham will attend as well as 1972 Olympic Games Official Vince Zuaro.

Supporters of the Olympic Movement remember that the Olympic Games were perhaps at their weakest point in 1984. After the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the Soviet Union and many other countries under its influence retaliated by refusing to accept their invitations to attend the 1984 Los Angeles Games. 

When China called to say they would refuse to join the Soviet Union's Olympic Games boycott and to say they would attend the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, it was a defining moment. This allowed one of the most successful Games in history to occur. Now, more than 20 years later, China will host the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, which is poised to be perhaps the most spectacular athletic event this century.

Olympians from China and America will join together in the celebration of the 1984 Games and appreciation and anticipation for the 2008 Olympic to be staged in less than one year in Beijing China! 

Attending from China will be "Jenny" Lang Ping a member of the 1984 Chinese Olympic Gold Medal Team and one of the most famous and respected individuals in the history of volleyball. Her nickname is "Iron Hammer" and she is considered by many a "national hero" in China. 

Attending from the 1984 Olympic Wrestling Teams are Bobby Weaver, Barry Davis, Randy Lewis, Andy Rein, Ed Banach, Mark Fuller, Dan Chandler and freestyle head coach Dan Gable. Weaver, Lewis and Banach won gold medals and Davis and Rein won silver medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The late Dave Schultz' wife and wrestling ambassador Nancy Schultz will attend to fill the void left by the Olympic Champion's passing.

Other special athletes expected to attend include one of the world's all-time greatest wrestlers, three-time World Champion Lee Kemp. Other wrestling greats expected to attend are Olympic Bronze medalist and World Champion Stan Dziedzic, 1996 Olympic silver Medalist Matt Ghaffari and internationally respected wrestler and coach Tadaaki Hatta.

More event information and how to purchase plates at this historic event can be found at:
WWW.NJNIGHTOFCHAMPIONS.COM