NEW YORK, Nov. 14 -- Some 200 people came together Wednesday night, Nov. 13, at the New York Athletic Club for the Metropolitan Wrestling Association's (MWA) 2002 Annual Award Dinner. A cross-section of people from the wrestling community in the New York metropolitan area joined their friends and families in honoring the 2002 Men and Woman of the Year, and to celebrate the official announcement that the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships will be held in New York at the "world's most famous arena," Madison Square Garden.    The four honorees have each played important roles in supporting the sport of wrestling.    ***** DAN DOCTOROFF is presently New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding. It was Dan who came up with the idea of having New York City bid to host the Olympic Games. Towards this end he founded NYC2012, and it was he who played the key, leading role throughout in that organization. So far his efforts have been successful, as on Nov. 2 the U.S. Olympic Committee selected New York as its bid city. The final decision on who will host the 2012 Olympics will be made by the International Olympic Committee in 2005 from a group of international candidate cities.     For wrestling, Dan's efforts have also been exceptionally important in securing the rights for New York to host the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships. While Dan had to leave NYC2012 when he became a Deputy Mayor in the Bloomberg administration beginning in Jan. 2002, he played an instrumental role in getting New York named as host of the 2001 World Championships of Wrestling. Originally scheduled for Sept. 26-29, 2001, these of course had to be postponed and relocated following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A bid city's record in hosting international championships in Olympic sports such as wrestling is an important factor considered by the I.O.C. in selecting a host city. Dan understood this and worked diligently with the MWA to organize that event.    Thus, with the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships not far off, the wrestling community knows that it has a great friend in Dan in City Hall.    ***** WENDY HILLIARD is NYC2012's Managing Director of Sports, and President and founder of the Wendy Hilliard Foundation. In 1978, she became the first African-American to represent the U.S. on the rhythmic gymnastics national team, and remained on that team a record nine times, twice being named national team captain. She has been a national and international gold medalist, as well as a four-time U.S. national team coach.    Among her more recent duties with NYC2012, she became Director of Sports in June 1999 and Managing Director of Sports in January 2002. Wendy has been working very closely with the MWA and its president, Setrak Agonian, to secure and organize the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships. You can usually see her at major wrestling events in New York, as she has become a key supporter of the sport of wrestling.     Outside of the spotlight, Wendy has done tremendous work though her foundation. At this dinner, a video was played which showed her training youth in the inner cities in rhythmic gymnastics. She has already started to accomplish in the sport in which she excelled what the MWA and USA Wrestling plan to accomplish with the "Beat The Streets" program for inner city youth in wrestling.    ***** KEN PODZIBA has been Commissioner of the New York City Sports Commission since Feb. 1998, being one of only three commissioners to be appointed by both Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. Since his appointment, he has been committed to promoting all sports, including the sport of wrestling.    One anecdote can demonstrate this. Early in his tenure, in July 1998, he attended a dinner at this same New York Athletic Club honoring the retirement of four-time Olympic medalist Bruce Baumgartner as an active wrestler. This dinner was held the night before the wrestling competition began at the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York. Ken presented a plaque to Bruce from New York Mayor Giuliani. Soon after this nice gesture, Dan Gable took to the podium and asked if "the guy from the mayor's office" was still here. When Commissioner Podziba responded, Gable asked into the microphone when the city was going to set up some youth wrestling clubs.    There was no response -- then.     Nowadays, inside Ken Podziba's New York City Sports Commission office, MWA executive director Bill Crum can be found at his desk organizing both the 2003 World Freestyle Wrestling Championships and the "Beat The Streets" youth initiative program.    When I reminded Commissioner Podziba of this story from 1998, he commented, "My, how times have changed." Yes they have, and all for the better, both for the sport of wrestling and the kids of the streets of New York.    ***** DR. HARVEY SCHILLER has been a sports executive whose work has been key for the Olympic movement in America. He was the executive director and secretary general of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1990 to 1994. He is chairman of the management committee for the NYC2012 Olympic bid committee. He was a vice president for sports programming for Turner Broadcasting System and president of Turner Sports. During his days with the Turner organization, he oversaw the Goodwill Games.     Currently Dr. Schiller serves as president and CEO of Assante U.S., which is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. He also was until recently chairman and CEO of YankeesNets, which includes the New York Yankees, New Jersey Nets, and New Jersey Devils.    Dr. Schiller lives in New York City. Though much of his work is behind the scenes, he is one of the key players in the Olympic movement and the world of sports, as well as being a true friend of wrestling.    Besides presenting these four honorees with their awards, several videos honoring these four friends of wrestling were shown. The MWA Annual Award Dinner was emceed by Marvell Scott, sportscaster for New York's WABC-TV. MWA chairman Al Bevilacqua welcomed the guests, and MWA president Setrak Agonian explained the history of the MWA and how its has persevered over the years to expand support for wrestling and sponsor a growing list of wrestling events in this region.     Other speakers included USA Wrestling president Stan Dzeidzic, MWA executive director Bill Crum on the "Beat The Streets" program, 1984 Olympic gold medalist Jeff Blatnick, and John Korff on the 2003 World Championships.    A dinner such as this can serve both as a celebration of past achievements and a launchpad for future ones. Besides relaxing while partaking in the ample cocktails and tasty food, the guests at this dinner could be seen exchanging phone numbers, business cards, and e-mail addresses, as well as setting up dates for meetings to further the sport of wrestling on both the local, national, and international levels.     In a sense, none of the remarkable accomplishments of the four honorees would have been possible without the support, hard work, and encouragement of so many others in the wrestling community, a point that was stressed in the speeches of all four award-winners. So while the honorees certainly have a lot for which they must be proud, the MWA's 2002 Annual Award Dinner was also a celebration of the contributions of the growing wrestling community in the New York metropolitan area.     With the Freestyle World Championships coming to New York in less than ten months, with the historic "Beat The Streets" program about to be launched, and with New York's bid to host the 2012 Olympics gaining steam, the dedication and labors of the wrestling community in this region may just one day lead to the Big Apple becoming one of the world's capitals in the world's oldest and greatest sport, wrestling.