COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 9, 2013 – USA Wrestling and its Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) have engaged the international law firm Patton Boggs to provide strategic advice and counsel in the effort to return wrestling to the Olympic Games. 

Patton Boggs has extensive experience around the globe handling highly complex legal, policy, political and litigation matters.  The firm's lead on the engagement is partner Robert Brams, a former college wrestler and president of the recently formed Wrestling to Beat the Streets DC, a program supporting inner city and at risk youth in the Washington, DC metro area. 

The DC program follows in the footsteps of the highly successful Beat the Streets program in New York City founded by Mike Novagratz.  Mr. Novagratz, a former Princeton University wrestling captain and now lead principal of Fortress Capital in New York, is spokesperson for the Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling. Beat the Streets is the organizer of the upcoming wrestling match between the US National team and the Iranian and Russian National teams, a historic event to be hosted in Grand Central Terminal in NYC on May 15th.

“Patton Boggs is a welcome addition to our team,” said Rich Bender, Executive Director of USA Wrestling. “The depth and breadth of the firm’s capabilities and its strong international experience are ideally suited to support the interests of the global wrestling community and the issues our sport faces.” 

“We are pleased to work with USA Wrestling and look forward to advising them on this important issue. With deep roots going back to the earliest Olympics, wrestling is truly a global sport that unifies people and nations. The sport has demonstrated its ability to bring countries together – even those with otherwise divergent views,” said Mr. Brams of Patton Boggs.

About USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling is the National Governing Body for the Sport of Wrestling in the United States and, as such, is its representative to the United States Olympic Committee and the International Wrestling Federation FILA. Simply, USA Wrestling is the central organization that coordinates amateur wrestling programs in the nation and works to create interest and participation in these programs. Its president is James Ravannack, and its Executive Director is Rich Bender.

About Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling
 
The Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) is a group of highly-respected leaders within the American wrestling community whose mission is to insure that wrestling remains as a core sport of the Olympic Games. Chaired by Bill Scherr, a World champion and Olympic medalist in freestyle wrestling and a successful businessman in the financial services industry who helped spearhead the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid effort, the committee was created by USA Wrestling to develop and execute a successful strategy, which will result in wrestling being named as a core sport for the 2020 Olympic Games and beyond.