When he graduated from Boston University in 1982, Gary Abbott wanted to be the world's best political journalist. But in the midst of a recession, there weren't many jobs open. So when his college coach, Carl Adams, had an idea to start a national wrestling publication and thought he could help, Abbott took up the challenge.    Twenty years later, Gary Abbott is still involved in wrestling journalism. As a result of his commitment and dedication to the sport, he has been named W.I.N. Magazine's Journalist of the Year for 2002.    "This award certainly means a lot to me," said Abbott, currently Director of Special Projects for USA Wrestling. "It shows people have noticed some of the work I've done and that's very positive. It is an honor to be recognized by the magazine."    After five years with Wrestling Master magazine, Abbott accepted a communications position in Colorado Springs in 1988. He has been with the organization ever since.    "It's been an honor and privilege to work for USA Wrestling. I've had great opportunities because I've worked here," said Abbott, who grew up in a wrestling family on Long Island. "As long as I can continue to enjoy what I do and make a difference with my efforts, this is where I want to be. It is something I have really enjoyed doing."    Although he also still serves as Director of Communications and Editor of USA Wrestler, Abbott has concentrated his recent attention on two fronts.    "Some of my more important activities have been in Title 9 and women's wrestling," said Abbott. "Being able to create all the national and North American rankings for women's college wrestling is helping us get some momentum."    "With the 30th anniversary of Title 9 and all of the different media initiatives we are involved in we are trying to educate the world on what is wrong with this interpretation of the law. That really pushed me a little bit. I had to use all the skills I had - and some I didn't know I had - in that area."    Abbott also takes a great deal of pride in the progress women's wrestling has made in this country. In 2001, he founded TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Team, now the most prestigious national award program for female high school wrestlers. Last year he also created the North American Women1s College Wrestling Poll, a monthly coaches' poll for women's college wrestling in North America, which ran in major media in the United States and Canada.    Even with those advances, Abbott knows women in the sport have a long way to go.    "One of our biggest challenges in the future is going to be women's wrestling. We've got to convince people not only involved in wrestling right now, but women athletic leaders, that it is something they need to support and we are going to have to educate the media that this is for real."     That is old hat for Abbott. Ever since he joined the organization in 1988, he has seen his position evolve into more of a public/media relations position than a news gathering organization.    "I spent a lot of time and a lot of years putting together a stronger communications program where we would provide and work with the media to cover the sport more. I'm not sure there was a lot of that done prior to when I arrived," he said. "But it became a focus - to do more than just publication work. We've really worked hard to try to reach out to the media and build public knowledge and interest in wrestling."    "I think back in 1988 there weren't very many fans of international wrestling in the United States. Now we've built a pretty strong following for our Olympic-level programs. A big part of that were the 1995 World Championships and the 1996 Olympics being held in this country. That gave us two really big events to promote and get wrestling fans out to see what is going on."    The reality is, according to Abbott, that very few people have had the opportunity to see the world's best wrestling. Through USA Wrestling, he feels they've been able to bring international wrestling here a lot more than before. That has been pretty rewarding.    "Things like the Goodwill Games in 1990 where we set the international record for attendance when America beat the Soviet Union in front of a packed house," said Abbott. "Even the Olympic Trials in Spokane with the great Cross versus Brands matches and record-setting attendance. Those are things that we have done which hadn't reached that level of success prior to 1988."    "We didn't have a national teams program back then either. That has been important to help our athletes get support while they stay in the sport. Its made a big difference in our performance."    Abbott feels the groundwork has now been laid to take advantage of the positives and continue to build wrestling's future. A key to that is marketing and promotion.    You've got two different levels of wrestling - participation wrestling and entertainment wrestling. You can have people that haven't watched wrestling enjoy a dual meet or the finals of a tournament. But you can't expect a regular person to sit through three days of wrestling," said Abbott, himself a four-time lettermen on the Division I level. "What you promote to them are the events that are easier to understand and if you give them an enjoyable experience, they want to learn more and want to come back."    "But it's almost like picking your punches. You don't want to tell families and kids they can't have these huge competitions because that is very important in wrestling. But what you present to the rest of the world has got to be your best stuff. There are a lot of people that are doing that at all levels of wrestling. You can't expect everyone to be a wrestling nut but you can show them the good stuff."    And Abbott thinks wrestling does have an advantage over other sports. The key, he says, is to realize what the sport has in place and build from there.    "We are in just about every community in the country with our youth wrestling programs. That's one of the reasons we have to fight like crazy protecting our school programs from the challenges of Title 9 and other things. Wrestling is out there in our high schools, junior highs and club programs - and we have to fight for it so the kids that are involved in the early years of their lives have opportunities in college and beyond."    As with most things, it will be the people deeply involved in the sport who will ultimately make the difference. Abbott deals with public relations people from a number of other sports - both amateur and professional - and knows that this sport has something special, something that has kept him involved for so long.    "We are blessed in wrestling, most of our Olympic athletes are really impressive people. They are all college-educated and very work-ethic oriented. They don't have the huge egos like professional athletes so they will make appearances and give something back to their sport. I'm very proud that I work with wrestlers.    "People in wrestling are people I enjoy - they are my kind of people. I'm a wrestling guy."