Steve Knipp of Waterloo, Iowa was named USA Wrestling's 2002 Kids Person of the Year. The award annually honors a leader who has to made great contributions to Kids wrestling in the United States.    Knipp has been an active leader in USA Wrestling on the local, state and national level, helping the sport as a coach, an official, a volunteer leader and an event director.    Knipp served as the co-director of the USA Wrestling National Kids Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championships on four occasions, when the event was hosted in his native Waterloo. Working along with Steve Wachal as directors of the event, Knipp handled many of the facility and operations issues of putting on this major national event.    He has also served as an event director of two Northern Plains Kids Regionals, two Olympic Regional Trials event, three Iowa Wrestling Federation State Dual Meet Tournaments, the Iowa State Cadet Freestyle Championships and over a dozen local wrestling tournaments.    Knipp has been inducted in the Iowa High School Athletic Hall of Fame. He serves as the tournament director of the Mississippi Valley Super Meet, one of the state's top high school conference tournaments.    He has served as the head coach at East Waterloo High School for 24 years. The team has won a state team title, and Knipp has coached numerous state champion and state medalist wrestlers during his career. He was a college wrestler at the Univ. of Georgia, and competed for Columbus High School in Iowa.    In addition, Knipp is an international wrestling official, with a 1-E rating. He serves as a referee at numerous USA Wrestling events at all levels. He also serves as the Treasurer of the Iowa Wrestling Federation.    Kids Person of the Year    1978 - Bill Knapp, New York    1979 - Ken Coover, Kansas    1980 - Gary Hoyt, Nebraska    1981 - Pat Alexander. Washington    1982 - Dave Gliniecki, Washington    1983 - John Spencer, Idaho    1984 - Jerry Opbroek, South Dakota    1985 - Joe Edmonson, Nebraska    1986 - David Rudrud, Wisconsin    1987 - Virgil Moon, Oregon    1988 - Ron Wagner, North Dakota    1989 - Paul Corder, Missouri    1990 - Ron Reichert, Illinois    1991 - Randy Staab, Washington    1992 - Dan Drinkwine, Minnesota    1993 - Mike McCoy, Florida    1994 - Roger Hanson, Idaho    1995 - Norman Osteen, North Carolina    1996 - Kathy Hopkins, Wyoming    1997 - Steve Wachal, Iowa    1998 - Virgil Moon, Oregon    1999 - Frank Rader, North Carolina    2000 - Sue Siar, Pennsylvania    2001 - Paul DeFosse, Rhode Island  2002 - Steve Knipp, Iowa