College wrestling programs that have been in existence for a long time have something very valuable to their continued future on campus - their wrestling alumni. Those former students who have gone through the program and moved on into the "real world" can make a significant impact on the future of the sport.    I have returned from my first Wrestling Alumni Weekend at my alma mater, Boston University. My competitive career ended many years ago, way back in 1982. I have not even been to Boston for a dozen years. This was a trip that I have been looking forward to for many months.    I could not miss the Alumni Meet this year. BU wrestling had an alumni banquet planned for after the match, and considerable effort went into rallying the troops for a good turnout. As part of this social activity, two BU wrestling grads were being honored, my teammate Tod Giles and me.    You may know Tod, who was a Greco-Roman star for many years and has been active with USA Wrestling on its Board of Directors. Tod was Boston University's first All-American, taking eighth place at the NCAA's in 1984. He upset an NCAA champion, Pete Bush of Iowa, in the early rounds that year, and became the first Terrier to finish in the money. Tod and I were teammates in the 1981-1982 season, when our new coach Carl Adams came over from Rhode Island and brought three of his athletes with him, including Tod. We have remained friends ever since, usually visiting during major USA Wrestling activities.    I was receiving a new BU wrestling alumni award called the Orin Smiley Award, presented to a BU wrestler for contributions to the sport. Orin Smiley was a wrestling coach at BU during the 1950's and was there to present the award. He is almost 80 years old now, looks much younger and has great energy and enthusiasm. It was fun to meet coach Smiley, and educational also, since most of us had never heard of him or the program from the early years.    The weekend was organized by assistant coach Earl Walker, who is another past BU All-American. Fans may remember Earl for his shocking early upset of No. 1 seed Matt Lindland of Nebraska at the NCAA Championships one year. The next year, Walker had a tremendous tournament, making the semifinals against the legendary Pat Smith of Oklahoma State and giving him a very competitive match.    BU was wrestling a tri-meet this weekend, against regional Div. I rival Brown and in-state Div. III power Springfield. Starting the night before, past wrestlers from all over the nation showed up in Boston to spend time together. We met together at a nice restaurant in Kenmore Square (near the BU campus and that famous little ballfield, Fenway Park). We filled the restaurant with over 20 at one table, and shared many stories and laughs.     The wrestling meet was held during a very busy weekend for BU Athletics. The basketball team had a game in the early afternoon, and the hockey team was facing archrival Boston College in the ice arena that evening. With a turnout of up to 50 alumni wrestlers, as well as some local high school teams, there was a nice crowd for the wrestling match.    As you might hope, the BU athletes rose to the occasion, wrestling very well to beat Brown in a competitive dual meet. The team has some fun and interesting wrestlers, including flashy Rayes Gonzales of Nevada at 149 pounds, who scored a funky pin that fired up the fans and got the team on a roll. Leighton Brady of Oklahoma,, who wrestles at 165 pounds, displayed some wonderful wrestling skills. Quite intriguing was John DaCruz, a freshman from Massachusetts who wrestled at 197 pounds. DaCruz is an amazing physical specimen, and has only been wrestling for a few years, but showed exciting natural talent and power.    Springfield was a bit outclassed in the other dual meet, but the BU kids were a bit less sharp, even on the way to a convincing victory. Overall, it was a good day for the Terrier wrestlers. The Athletic Director Gary Strickler was reportedly at the match, and longtime BU Sports Information Director Ed Carpenter also made sure to be there.    I visited with both of the visiting team coaches, men I have known a long time. Brown coach Dave Amato was the coach at UMass when I was competing, and was a friend even then. He has done a tremendous job with the Brown program since taking over there. I make sure to visit with Dave whenever I'm at a college championship. The Springfield coach is Darryl Arroyo, who was wrestling in college at Springfield when I was at BU. He used to have some good battles with our 118-pounder Wade Genova back in the day. Darryl took over from the legendary Doug Parker, and continues a strong tradition of wrestling at that institution.    The banquet was a rather informal social, held in a restaurant/saloon not far from the BU athletic center. Ironically, it was in the exact building where I worked in an office for Wrestling Masters, the wrestling magazine I edited in the 1980s. They had gutted the building and redone the place, turning office space into a pub. From what I can tell, there is a pool table in the exact location where my desk used to be.     What was nice was that the current BU athletes were also at the function, giving the alumni a chance to meet them, and letting them get a better feel for the history of the program. Coach Adams said a few words of introduction, welcoming the alumni and encouraging them to stay involved with the program. He reported on the status of the program, and some goals and direction that he would like to take the team in the future.    Tod Giles was presented with his award, a regular occurrence when we were at BU (Tod was clearly our top athlete). In addition to speaking about his competitive days, Tod made sure to provide some advice to the young wrestlers about enjoying their time on the mats.    Unlike Tod, I was not used to getting awards from Boston Univ. as an athlete. I got exactly one before, the Most Pins trophy for the team from the 1978-79 season. I was a four-year starter and a three-time conference placewinner, but never qualified for the NCAA Div. I meet. To receive recognition for my involvement in wrestling from my alma mater was a humbling and proud moment.    I encouraged the alumni there to get better organized and build upon the success of the weekend. I shared the shocking statistics about dropped wrestling teams. All of the schools from my conference in the early 1980's no longer have wrestling (UConn, URI, UMass, UMaine, UNH and Boston College).     I also told them a few success stories of other college alumni groups. I talked about Princeton, which saved its program with alumni support and fundraising. I mentioned American Univ., which was being considered for elimination but decided to upgrade the program because of alumni support. I noted Lehigh, which has endowed so much of its program that its coaching positions are now fully endowed. I also mentioned Fresno State, which survived elimination a year ago, and came together this year to put 9,800 fans in the stands for their dual against Iowa State.    Another of my former teammates, Tony D'Arezzo, made an impassioned impromptu speech, explaining how much wrestling meant to him. He told the current athletes that the years in college wrestling could be among the best of their lives. Tony was not a star athlete either, one of those hard working kids who was a starter for us.     Certainly, BU has a way to go in creating the kind of strong alumni involvement that can be so important to long-term success. From my discussions with other alumni, we plan to do much more in the future, getting more of our peers involved next year and beyond. Although we believe Coach Adams when he says the program is well-respected in the athletic department, we want to do more to show how important it remains to the alumni athletes.    These kind of wrestling alumni activities are going on across the nation at college campuses, or they should be!! With only a little more than 300 college programs in the nation (and just over 80 in Div. I), every single college team is very valuable to our sport. It is the job of former college wrestlers to