USA Wrestling First Vice President and Louisiana State Chairperson James Ravannack will unveil the new USA Wrestling South Regional Training Center at 6:30 pm.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 in Metairie, La.    The training center will be home to the Gator Wrestling Club, also founded by Ravannack, as well as provide training grounds for amateur wrestlers in the Southern Region in the U.S.    "We have nothing in the South for our kids to be able to train at an elite level," Ravannack said. "This will provide kids an opportunity to live out their dreams of becoming Olympic wrestling heroes without worrying about where to train or how to get there."    The training center is 12,000 square feet. The wrestling room holds three and one half mats and it includes a state-of-the-art 40 feet by 40 feet weight room, the first of its kind in the South.    The idea for the training center began with the emergence of several wrestling stars from the South, including 2000 Olympic freestyle gold medalist Brandon Slay, who originates from Amarillo, Texas, 2000 U.S. Freestyle Olympic Team Trials runner-up Kerry Boumans, who is from Lafayette, La. and 2001 NCAA runner-up and 2002 Pan-American champion Daniel Cormier, also from Lafayette, La. Cormier was a three-time high school state champion and recently won the Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open in freestyle.    Ravannack feels that the training center has already paid dividends in the South region, though.    "These kids in the southern states know that they are going to have an opportunity that they have never had before. The wrestling community in the South and especially in Louisiana is excited about having this here in order to help develop Olympic champions," Ravannack added.    A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Friday, Nov. 8 at the South Regional Training Center, located at 1901 Severn Ave. in Metairie, La. Media are encouraged to attend the ribbon-cutting, which will also hold a 1996 Olympic medal reunion, which will include gold medalists Kendall Cross, Tom Brands and Kurt Angle.    The ribbon-cutting is part of the weekend*s festivites leading up to the Kurt Angle Classic, part of the "Show of Strength", a competition that will include body building, power lifting, arm wrestling and a strong man contest. Included will be a hall with over 300 exhibits of products, supplements and other resources useful in athletics.    "I am excited and honored to be hosting this event along with USA Wrestling," stated Angle, who after capturing Olympic gold in 1996 went on to become a WWE superstar. "This is my way of giving back to the sport of wrestling. It should be an incredible atmosphere and putting the top wrestlers in the world against each other should help the sport of wrestling as well."    There will be three sessions of competition. In session one, a Louisiana high school all-star dual meet will take place on Friday afternoon.    Sessions two and three will pit the top U.S. stars in all three Olympic styles (men's freestyle, men's Greco-Roman, women's freestyle) battling against some of the top international competitors in the world.     "USA Wrestling is excited to host the first-ever Kurt Angle Classic," stated Pete Isais, USA Wrestling Director of National Events. "It is a great way for our athletes to earn more money this season. This event has been further enhanced due to the fact that our men*s freestyle World Team was unable to compete at the 2002 World Championships, so this will may be the only time some of these athletes get to see a competitor of this caliber for a while."    Wrestling will take place in an entertaining atmosphere. Matches will be enhanced with music, up-close interviews and cutting-edge production techniques that are certain to make this one of the most fan-friendly and stunning amateur wrestling events ever.    For more information on the Kurt Angle Classic, visit www.showofstrength.com.