USA WRESTLING NAMES INDIANAPOLIS AS HOST CITY FOR 2004 FINAL FREESTYLE OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS 
 USA Wrestling, the national governing body for amateur wrestling in the United States, has named Indianapolis as the host city for the 2004 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials. This competition will determine the U.S. freestyle team that will compete in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. 
 The competition is expected to be held in June of 2004. The venue for the tournament will be Conseco Fieldhouse, which is scheduled to open in September 1999, and will be the home of the NBA Indiana Pacers. This venue will have the capacity to seat more than 18,000 fans. 
 Indianapolis expressed its strong interest in hosting the event as one of the finalist bid cities for the 2000 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials, which was eventually awarded to Dallas.  
 Based upon the outstanding merits of the Indianapolis bid, which was submitted by the Indiana Sports Corporation, USA Wrestling has decided to award the 2004 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials to Indianapolis at this time. 
 "USA Wrestling is very pleased to announce that Indianapolis will host the 2004 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials," said Jim Scherr, Executive Director of USA Wrestling. "The Indiana Sports Corporation has proven to be among the most capable event hosts in the nation and has presented an outstanding bid for this competition. With the strong wrestling community in Indiana and the surrounding region, we expect the 2004 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials to be a spectacular success." 
 Indianapolis is considered one of the leading sports cities in the nation, and has been very active hosting major events within the Olympic community. Indianapolis served as host for the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1982 National Sports Festival, and is the home for a number of Olympic national governing bodies. 
 Recent Olympic-related events in Indianapolis have included the 1998 National Gymnastics Championships; the 1998 National Diving Championships; the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials - Diving; the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials - Swimming and the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials - Synchronized Swimming. 
 The Indiana State Wrestling Association (ISWA), the USA Wrestling state association, is one of the largest and most successful in the nation. The ISWA will be an active partner in the organization of the 2004 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials. 
 Wrestling is a very popular sport in Indiana and surrounding states. In addition, Indiana boasts tremendous fan support for its annual state high school wrestling championships. Indiana also boasts a number of college wrestling programs, including Big Ten programs Indiana Univ. and Purdue Univ. 
 The United States is among the best freestyle wrestling nations in the world, and numerous world-class athletes are expected to compete in the event.  
 The Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials is considered the most popular event hosted by USA Wrestling. It is the goal of the host organizing committee in Indianapolis and USA Wrestling to combine forces to have a complete sellout for the two-day event in 2004. 
 The 1996 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials, which were held in Spokane, Wash., set records for attendance at a freestyle wrestling event in the United States. A total of 24,578 spectators attended the 1996 Final Freestyle Olympic Team Trials in Spokane, Wash. 
  HOST CITIES FOR THE FINAL FREESTYLE OLYMPIC TRIALS 
 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind. 
 2000 - Dallas, Texas 
 1996 - Spokane, Wash. 
 1992 - Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 1988 - Pensacola, Fla. 
 1984 - Allendale, Mich 
  * Note - Prior to 1984, USA Wrestling was not the national governing body for amateur wrestling and did not conduct the Olympic Trials process.