WrestlingGear.Com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
Jeffrey Pape
WrestlingGear.Com, Ltd.
800-565-0995
Fax: 630-832-0505
Jeffpape@wrestlinggear.com
http://www.wrestlinggear.com

WRESTLINGGEAR.COM ANNOUNCES GOLF OUTING TO CELEBRATE 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Elmhurst, IL – April 1, 2008 - WrestlingGear.Com is planning a golf outing and fundraiser for July 29, 2008 at White Pines Golf Club in Bensenville, IL. WrestlingGear.Com will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary during 2008. In 10 years, WrestlingGear.Com has grown to one of the largest Internet/Catalog based stores in the country.

Money raised at the golf outing with support two organizations - the first is The Smile Train, an organization that helps kids and their families repair cleft lips. The owner of WrestlingGear.Com's son was born with a cleft lip. The second organization is still being finalized, but will be an Illinois based wrestling organization.

"This is going to be a great event and celebration 10 years in the making. We already have many of the top wrestling organizations in the country and the state behind this event. Not only will it be a great time, but we will raise money for kids with cleft lips and another Illinois based wrestling organization.

For more information or to be added to the golf outing mailing list, call Jeff Pape at 1-800-565-0995.

I sent this around to our email subscribers from WrestlingGear.Com - I figured many of you might find it interesting...

Preseason Update:

Lot's of gear is moving in and out of our store. We should have several large shipments from Asics, Brute and adidas next week. If it's available we will have it. We will reload on our Cael's in Black and Serpent next week.

Chances are if you are in one of the hot sizes and looking for a Black Response or a Green Response they are gone and tough to find. adidas has run out of these shoes even last week so for us we consider that even before the first match is wrestled. Two of the hottest shoes are gone for the season. If you are looking for the Cael in White/Navy, you better look at our site first, we are one of the few to have them. We recongized this was going to be a hot shoe and we loaded up on them just in time for the season. Many places won't have these until late December.

We definitely missed the boat this year on the Black Responses and Green ones. We should have known better...Another knee pad that is in short supply is the Brute Exo-knee pad. We still have some left but they are basically gone for much of the seaon.

Gone for next year...we get asked this alot. We don't know officially yet, but I suspect, the adistrikes, Attaak II, and Tyrint III lines will be gone next year. Why is this important to know now? If you like the color combination buy it now. Don't wait to buy it next year because chances are it will be gone. For Asics, look for the Gable, Rulon, Gel Assault, and many of the Split Seconds to be gone next year.

Other equipment, let us know if we are missing equipment. We love to hear feedback about a hot item we don't carry. Many of the new items we bring in are based on feedback from our customers.

You still can place an order to qualify for this offer...

Order two t-shirts and a pair of shoes and we will send you two free t-shirts (our choice). Type in the special instructions on the check out web page "Free T-shirts Offer Send Size ___" let us know what size you would like. Your free shirts will not show up on your receipt but will be added to your order when shipped. Sizes must be Adult Small to Adult XL. Offer valid while supplies last or until 11/17.

Also, our other special offer can be combined with the free t-shirt offer (so you can get two free t-shirts and a free dvd).

You can forward this email to your friends and they can take advantage of this special offer.

Jeff Pape
WrestlingGear.Com, Ltd
Family Owned and Operated Since 1998
Elmhurst, Illinois

It's hard to believe that wrestling season is already here. It seems like only a few weeks ago wrestling season was wrapped up for the summer "slow" season at wrestlinggear.com.

We worked hard over the summer to update our site with the latest and greatest products we could find. We are excited about the DVD's from Championship Productions and David Mills and Human Kinetics. Once agan I think we added some DVD's that will help not only the new coach and wrestler but also some titles that will help the experienced coach and wrestler take their wrestling to the next level.

New products that are hot...the Rulon's did not sell that well for us when they first came out. However, the last two years, they are a hot shoe. Not sure why it took a year to catch on, but they are one of the hottest shoes out there. The Cael's combine the affordability of an intermediate level shoe along with the technology of a high end shoe (it shares a similar sole to the Gable). Combine price and features and you have a winning product. White and Navy is the popular color scheme with our shoppers. Problem is for a while you could not find these color schemes. And, to be honest, if you are looking at a Cael or a Rulon, best to shop early. There will be some stockouts in this shoe during the season. I can almost guarantee it.

For adidas, the Response is still leading the way. The adistrike, their high end shoe, is selling well but not as well as their other shoes have done in the past. They usually only have one high end shoe, now they have three, and we have lots of availability in the adistrikes. The Extero is starting to sell a little bit, however, it has not taken over the market like I thought it would (luckily I was conservative with our ordering).

Cliff Keen's Tornado redesign, for those who have not bought a Tornado in a while, last year they increase the size of the pads. This makes the head gear much bigger then it was in years past. We have had several complaints about the size of the head gear, but you really have no choice but to get used to the larger head gear or switch head gears. It will be interesting to see how this redesign effects sales in year 2 of the redesign. Will Asics and Brute be able to compete with this modified Tornado? We'll see.

New MMA shorts, we are excited about the new line of training shorts we brought in. The company, Clich Gear, is owned by Dan Henderson of MMA Fame. Not too mention he was an Olympic wrestler. They approached us about carrying their line of products and we decided to give them a try. Now we have noticed more MMA guys coming into the store to buy wrestling gear so we figured we'd give it a try...

That's it for now, remember you can buy wrestling gear here - WrestlingGear.Com - Wrestling Shoes and Wrestling Gear

Jeff Pape
WrestlingGear.Com

JEFF PAPE'S OWN SON BENEFITED FROM SURGERY

By CATHRYN GRAN Staff Writer

cgran@pioneerlocal.com

Jeff Pape can't imagine his son going through life with an easily-remedied condition.

"Jackson, who's 3 now, was born with a cleft lip," explained Pape, a business owner and member of the Franklin Park Rotary and the Franklin Park/Schiller Park Chamber of Commerce.

"We were lucky," he said. "My wife, Nancy, was working for a Fortune 500 company so we had good insurance. All we had to pay was the deductible."

That surgery can cost thousands of dollars.

"You wouldn't notice it now, but when Jackson was a year old, he had a fat lip," Pape said. "But the scar has healed. It's hard to notice."

Through Jackson's doctor, the Papes learned of an organization that helps families that are not as fortunate as they are.

"The Smile Train operates on the 'teach a man to fish' theory," Pape explained. "They give instruction to local doctors who then go to the patients. These are families without means of transportation."

The Smile Train is a nonprofit organization that provides services and programs in more than 60 countries, including the United States, and has helped provide free surgery for thousands of children as well as free training and education for more than 15,000 surgeons and medical professionals, according to information provided by the organization. During the month of May, Pape, a Schaumburg resident who owns Wrestlinggear.com, is dedicating a portion of his sales to the organization.

"Smile train teaches doctors," he explained. "They really focus on educating doctors instead of going there for a couple of weeks and leaving.

"Each surgery costs about $250," he continued. "There is no overhead. Grants and funds from the Board of Directors covers the administrative costs, with 100 percent of the donations going to help kids.

"Last year, through all our fundraiser events and our wrestling clinic held in the fall, we raised over $5,000 for the Smile Train," he noted. "That works out to about 20 children we were able to help.

"I can't imagine my kid not being able to have that surgery," he said. "It affects the child mentally. They're shunned. They can't to go to school, so they don't get any kind of an education."

According to the organization, every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes. Since March 2000, the group has provided free cleft surgery for 225,343 children.

"It's amazing what the Smile Train does," Pape noted. "And to think there are kids out there who can't afford to get this fixed."

Those who want to donate may send a check payable to the Smile Train to Wrestlinggear.com at 655 W. Grand Ave., Elmhurst, IL 61026.

Additional information about the Smile Train is available by visiting www.smiletrain.org.

Article appeared in the May 16th edition of the Franklin Park Pioneer Press. You can visit their website at www.pioneerlocal.com