Friday night the coaches who had brought twenty teams from across the country for the Scholastic duals and High School Open in Newark, Delaware gathered for a banquet with guest speaker John Smith.  Smith, a two time Olympic Champion and six time World Champion spoke to the coaches about their sense of purpose.      Smith related to the coaches stories of past experiences of how coaches made a difference in improving his wrestling career.  Then, he spoke openly about the need for coaches and wrestlers to support the right events and organizations that further the sport of wrestling.      "People need to know that their wrestling dollars are going to support the sport of wrestling.  We need the coaches and wrestling leaders to leave Delaware this weekend and spread the word that this event needs to become the premiere wrestling event for high school wrestlers in the country", said Smith.      Smith openly thanked the many people and organizations that have helped the Scholastic Duals grow to twenty teams with plans for the tournament to field many more next year.  Teams from powerhouse state like Pennsylvania and New Jersey made the trip.  And, teams from states not known as wrestling hotbeds like Alabama were also represented.      Smith was obviously pleased with the level of competition that the duals and tournament drew, as he said, "man the wrestlers are ten times better than they were in '83 when I came out of high school."  Coaches from many Division I level programs and national powers were on site to watch the action.      Tournament organizers Jack Holloway and Vic Leonard were excited about the quality of wrestler that came to Delaware for the weekend wrestling activities.  In the duals side of the tournament there were 58 state champions and 88 finalists.      The tournament received national support from wrestling organizations such as the National Wrestling Coaches Association, and USA Wrestling.  Sponsors like Brute/Adidas and Resilite filled the role as corporate sponsors.  Local support and organization came from the Delaware Tourism Bureau, and the Delaware Wrestling Alliance.      The Delaware Wrestling Alliance (DWA) led by people like Vic Leonard and Jack Holloway has many committed wrestling supporters who volunteer many wrestling hours to support causes.  The DWA has already made a name for itself by creating and running the most elite in season high school tournament in the country, the Beast of the East.      Next year, the DWA will host the NWCA Division I All-Star Dual at the University of Delaware.  Vic Leonard is pleased with the opportunity to bring such a high impact event to the nation's first state.  "We expect to fill this auditorium," gesturing to the 5,500 seat Carpenter Center, "the DWA is here to promote and build the sport of wrestling and we can't wait till February 3rd 2003 to have that dual."      Leonard and Holloway as representatives of the DWA are proud that their small state has an active wrestling community that helps the sport of wrestling.  In nine years, the DWA has given over $119,000 in scholarships to high school wrestlers, raised from the 12 events that it hosts annually.      Additionally, the DWA funds the University of Delaware wrestling club.  One of the DWA's long-term goals is to make sure that the wrestling community is ready to act if there is an opportunity to move the wrestling team from club status to its original NCAA Division I status.        Mike Moyer, Executive Director of the NWCA, noted the importance of this wrestling event.  "In the past two years the wrestling community has really taken steps to come together to improve the sport of wrestling.  This is shown by the formation of the Amateur Wrestling Alliance and the joint effort of the NWCA and USA Wrestling working together on events like this."      "The wrestling community should be proud to support an event like this, because it is a collaborative effort.  We need to continue this effort so that the sport of wrestling will survive."      Discussing the future of the sport of wrestling, these wrestling leaders cited the need for the sport of wrestling to address the tough problems that face the sport.  The NWCA has recently gained national attention for its joint filing of a lawsuit in federal courts meant to fix the unintended consequences of Title IX.      Moyer stated why this event is important to help fund that important legal battle.  "The first phase of this suit will cost nearly $150,000.  We can only expect to gain so much seed money from private donations.  When the wrestling community supports the right tournaments they help to fund the activities that will help save the sport of wrestling."      These wrestling community leaders future hopes for the wrestling community to organize and support the sport of wrestling was summarized by National Wrestling Coaches Association president, Roger Reina at the end of Friday night's banquet.      "It's the right thing to be a member of these organizations and support their tournaments.  The future of wrestling is tied to scholastic wrestling, and people owe it to the sport of wrestling to make sure they are supporting the right activities."