"Three to five years," without any hesitation came the answer to the final question of the interview. "It will happen."    Al Rodger has served in his position as state chairperson for USA Wrestling  in Texas for less than a year and with matter of fact abruptness Rodger has  begun to help steer a new path for wrestling in the populous Lone-Star State. Texas may no longer be the sleeping giant of potential for wrestling that it  once was.  Speaking with Rodger and seeing the new faces of Texas wrestling thriving in the world's oldest and greatest sport breeds tremendous optimism for the wrestling community.    Wrestling in Texas has long been an overlooked commodity in a state where football casts a long shadow.  But the awakening to the competitive sport of wrestling seems to be well in motion.    In the summer of 2000, media outlets were in awe of Dan Gable's arrival in Dallas for the Olympic Trials; radio interviews, newspaper columns, TV stories exposed the state of Texas to the longstanding wrestling legend. Gable seemed to enjoy the crush of attention and spoke often of the need for Texas to embrace the sport of wrestling during the week.    By the end of the Olympic Trials in Dallas, a native son of Texas from Amarillo accomplished the improbable by capturing an Olympic Team berth, from a state dwarfed by the elite wrestling states like Iowa, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.  At the end of the Olympics in Sydney, Brandon Slay's story became that of Greater Gold.    The state that longed for tradition in the sport now had a hero of its' own.  Now organization, commitment, and education from USA Wrestling's state association volunteers are prepared to capitalize on the momentum.    At the Southern Plains Regional in Allen, Texas, young wrestlers from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas competed at the Cadet and younger age levels. As Rodger jumped between coaching and tournament duties, he relied on a number of volunteers---many of who were young wrestlers earning credit towards their fee to participate in Fargo.  Texas "longhorn" singlets were more prominent than ever.  More than 150 Texas youth took to the mats during the competition, whereas last year only 90 Texans did.    "What we're finding in Texas is that the sport of wrestling sells itself. People who get exposed to it want to be involved; we are building the base of volunteers that we need to help grow wrestling in Texas," cited Rodger.    Rodger, a New York native, has a long-fed obsession for the sport of wrestling satisfied by watching any and all wrestling videos he can get a hold of.  As a successful businessman, Rodger is now focusing on helping organize the overall growth of wrestling in Texas.    "Wrestling at the high school level is taking off like a rocket.  There has been nearly a doubling of high school wrestling programs in Texas in just a couple of years."    Texas is now approaching nearly 300 high school programs.    Rodger also notes that with the tremendous growth in population new schools are being built all of the time in the state.      "Speaking with a friend who is an architect for one of the major firms that chiefly plans and builds new schools, he alerted me to some great news. Now, when schools are being built, it is becoming a given that the schools plan to build a wrestling room into the structure," stated Rodger.    The explosive growth of wrestling in the state is a sirens call for teachers with wrestling coaching experience to head south. When wrestlers and fans entered the Southern Plains venue at the massive Allen school, which is less than three years old, many stopped to read a hastily scrawled note taped to the front door.    "Wanted - three assistant wrestling coaches. Arlington Public schools.  Starting salary $45,000."    According to Rodger and other teachers/wrestling coaches, it's tough to keep pace with the thriving interest in the sport of wrestling.  "When people make the commitment to move to Texas with a wrestling job in mind at a high school they won't be disappointed. We see that we are starting to draw very talented wrestling coaches to the state."    It was fairly evident at the Southern Plains Tournament that wrestling will have no shortage of talent in the state.  Kenny Monday, Olympic Gold Medalist, has moved to the Dallas area and coaches his own youth club, Team Monday.  Kenny Monday spent much of his time at the Southern Plains Tournament signing autographs for the hundreds of kids wrestling over the weekend.    Two Olympic Gold Medalists reside in Texas, and with the help of stars like Monday and Slay and the resurgent Texas USAW organization, the state is poised to transform its wrestling athletes into future freestyle and Greco-Roman champions.    "We are not aiming to be satisfied with scholastic success only in wrestling. We have five regions in the state of Texas that are now fully staffed with coaches that are helping to teach our youngest wrestlers the   rules, techniques and strategies of the international styles (freestyle and Greco-Roman)," said Rodger.    Texas is looking to develop an overall system of wrestling that will foster more wrestling in the international styles.  Also, the leaders of the state see a tight connection between success in the sport and a dedication by athletes that test the waters of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.  Another important move by the organization was adding former Iowa Hawkeye wrestler C.T. Campbell as the state's Developmental Coach.    "Many kids are finding a great love for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling in the state.  We have a lot of young wrestlers that didn't know about the Fargo experience a year ago.  Now they're training hard to see if they can be All-Americans and Champions come this July", stated Rodger.    And like in many other states the interest for in amateur wrestling is not limited to only the boys.  Many girls in the state are joining the USAW ranks. Texas high schools already offer a high school state tournament for the girls.  And that previous experience may turn into a strong showing for the Texas Women's team at the first Junior Nationals for Women in Fargo this July.    "We plan on taking a very competitive team of young women to Fargo," said Rodger. "They'll be able to hold their own just fine."    The enthusiasm for more training by the athletes has also led to a network of volunteers working together to challenge the kids with better practices.  Texas USA Wrestling organizations have opened regional training sites so that wrestlers that want to embrace a year-round commitment to the sport can do just that.    High School coaches in the state are also thankful for the Texas USAW's commitment to make sure that each state has a feeder club working to help the school's wrestling team.  In the coming years, that will pay off with more experienced young wrestlers looking forward to their competitive high school years seeking state titles and All-American finishes at national championships.  In Texas, the commitment to the sport is now top to bottom.    Wrestling fans also can gather more information about the sport easily through the constantly up-dated Texas USA Wrestling website (www.txusawrestling.com). The web-site is an important part of the work the organization is doing.    "People now feel they have a tool that really helps communicate about the sport in the state."    Texas USA Wrestling's organization is working hard to bring together the variety of wrestling groups in the state to work hand-in-hand in building the wrestling tradition that so many in the state desire.    "We really took a step forward with bringing the UIL (University Interscholastic League) in the fold," said Rodger.  "The UIL is the high school association in Texas.  The move to work closely with USA Wrestling in the state will certainly bring great things in the future.  We are determined to work with other organizations to ensure that the youth in the state have the best opportunities to wrestle available to them."    With Rodger's determination to work for the kids in the state, inevitably the talk turns to the state of college wrestli