AMERICA NEEDS WRESTLING... WRESTLING NEEDS YOU; "WRESTLING FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM" CAMPAIGN CREATED 
 The three most influential organizations within the sport of wrestling have combined to create "Wrestling for the Next Millennium," a capital campaign designed to ensure that man's oldest sport thrives in the 21st century and beyond. 
 USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum will work together to raise $10 million by the end of the year 2000, funds which will support wrestling not just at the highest level of competition, but also at all levels. 
 Funds will be earmarked to help educate coaches, to attract newcomers to the sport, to preserve and promote the history of wrestling, and to help underprivileged youth "Beat the Street." 
 "America needs wrestling to survive," said legendary coach Dan Gable, honorary co-chair of the campaign. "I don't mean wrestling, I mean work ethic. We're taking some very important values and letting them slide." 
 Indeed, five former American presidents were wrestlers, including our most revered, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. In addition, wrestling has produced national heroes: General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, Nobel Prize winner Norman Bourlag, actors Kirk Douglas and Tom Cruise, authors John Irving and Ken Kesey. 
 And when a scandal-ridden U.S. House of Representatives was looking for a man with the character and integrity to lead it out of crisis, it found him in a wrestler, Representative J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the newly elected Speaker of the House. 
 Wrestling for the Next Millennium is chaired by business leader Scott Beck, a former chairman of Blockbuster Video and founder of Boston Chicken and Einstein Bros. Bagels. Honorary co-chairs are Gable and Nancy Schultz, widow of Olympic champion Dave Schultz. 
 "Four years of high school wrestling had an absolutely transforming influence on my own life," Beck said. "On the mat I learned the lessons of commitment, hard work, passion, leadership, and of course, winning and losing." 
 By chairing this campaign, Beck hopes to pass those gifts along to future generations. Each of the three organizations involved in Wrestling for the Next Millennium will receive funds from the campaign, which will be raised through both private and corporate donations. 
 USA Wrestling, the National Governing Body for the sport, aims to raise $6 million to endow its National Team programs in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's freestyle wrestling. The National Team program provides living and training support for the top three athletes in each weight class in all styles. In addition, it also funds full-time professional National Coaches in freestyle and Greco-Roman. 
 Another $1 million would fund USA Wrestling's exciting new "Beat the Streets" program for underprivileged youth in urban areas. This program is designed to keep kids out of trouble found on the streets, to provide them with a fun and healthy activity and to furnish them with qualified coaches and positive role models that can show them how to become winners in life. 
 The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum needs $2 million to complete the expansion of its current facility and to endow its Honors Program which recognizes wrestlers young and old for their achievements in the sport and in society. 
 An additional $1 million for the National Wrestling Coaches Association will help wrestling to face challenges at both the high school and collegiate levels, to better educate its coaches with the latest technical and strategical information, and to continue sponsoring competition and awards which recognize the best within the sport. Among the key projects will be protecting wrestling's future in regards to federal Title IX legislation. 
 Each program to be endowed by the campaign could be named in honor of a donor. Pledges can be earmarked for specific programs and can be made in lump sums or monthly payments. 
 For information on participating in the Wrestling for the Next Millennium campaign, contact USA Wrestling, 6155 Lehman Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, (800)999-8531.