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A place to train with the best: Missouri coach tries to establish Olympic center.

Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO) February 27, 2007 Byline: Troy Schulte Though Smith has yet to decide on a name or a logo, he and Hummer are toying with the idea of making it a contest for fans. It could be up and running as soon as this spring. “If you’re a top recruit in the country, that’s an important thing for you if you have aspirations to be an Olympian,” Smith said. “That’s the one thing we were lacking on the highest level. That’s what we’re working on right now.” To make it happen, Missouri’s program had to become successful so it could raise enough money. The Tigers finished in the top 15 at the NCAA Championships the past three years, Ben Askren won the program’s first national championship last year and MU was ranked No. 1 in the nation earlier this season. All of that has helped with donations.

Also, Missouri needed to have wrestlers with the ability to make U.S. national teams to attract other wrestlers to Columbia. With Askren, who is a strong candidate to make the U.S. team that will compete in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and fellow senior Matt Pell, they have that. “I think with anything, a successful organization, people want to give to it or want to be tied to it,” Smith said. “Right now, Missouri wrestling is a very successful program.” USA Wrestling, the national governing body for the sport, has to sanction the training center. Craig Ewing, the state director for USA Wrestling in Missouri, said that shouldn’t be a hurdle. “If you can prove that you can have the facilities, coaches and ability to pull top kids, that’s what they’re looking for,” Ewing said. “You never know what” USA Wrestling “is going to do, but I really don’t see any negative drawback to it.” The facilities are already in place, thanks to the upgrade before the 2005 season. All the MU wrestling program needs now is the money to support the wrestlers who would stay in Columbia. That’s where Hummer and RJ Promotions come in. “It’d be real nice if 10 years ago I had a sugar daddy that was a billionaire that said, Here’s a million dollars. Do what you want with it,’ ” Smith said. “But that’s when the alarm clock goes off and you wake up in the morning.” Smith has estimated for the first year MU would need about $30,000 to pay for two wrestlers — most likely Askren and Pell — to train at the facility. If either of them wanted to fly out to the main Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., to train with U.S. national team coaches, their travel expenses would be covered. Smith said restaurant coupons have been donated to the Missouri Wrestling Foundation — the nonprofit organization that is handling the donations — and a town house is expected to be donated so the wrestlers would have a rent-free place to stay. The Missouri Wrestling Foundation has raised about $27,000, and that’s before the banquet scheduled for Friday at the Hearnes Center fieldhouse. With a silent auction and possible donors attending, Smith hopes to raise $10,000 or more. The banquet, which was organized almost entirely by Hummer and his company, has sold more than 300 tickets at $50 apiece. The food and drinks have been donated. freerestaurantcouponsnow.com free restaurant coupons go to website free restaurant coupons

Many of those supporters will attend the Big 12 Championships on Saturday at the Hearnes Center. Since Smith’s phone call to Hummer last spring, the two speak on the phone about three times a week. Smith has made a few trips to St. Joseph to discuss the project with Hummer and his associates. If it wasn’t for Hummer, Smith said, the project probably wouldn’t be as far along as it is now. Smith said he isn’t surprised this project is finally happening, but he’s amazed at how quickly it’s come together. He and Hummer started donating much of their time to it last spring, and the support since then has been overwhelming.

“It’s great for the state. That’s why everybody is helping out,” Smith said. “We’ve just kind of touched how big this can get.” Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.