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Faces in the Crowd

Sports Illustrated /Kids July 2004

Makeba won the Illinois Midget State Wrestling Championship in the 70-pound weight class
on March 21. She was the only girl in her class at the finals.One week later, Makeba won the n-pound division at
the 2004 United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships, in Michigan.In the title match, she pinned
her opponent in 2 minutes 34 seconds

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Company Announces Sponsorship of Twelve U.S. Olympic Athletes;
Program to Help Retailers Create In-Store Buzz Leading Up to 2004 Games

ARCHDALE, N.C., June 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Sealy, the largest bedding
manufacturer in the world and the Official Mattress Supplier of the 2004 U.S.
Olympic Team, is leveraging its Olympic supplier status to align itself with
some of the best American athletes competing in the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens,
Greece, to be held August 13-29.
Through its "Sealy Supports America's Best" program, Sealy has signed
sponsorship agreements with 12 athletes across a range of popular Olympic
sports, including track & field, swimming and women's soccer. In addition to
providing each athlete with a new Sealy Posturepedic mattress set, Sealy is
also providing funds to help offset their training expenses. "Each athlete in
the program has an excellent chance to earn a spot on The U.S. Olympic Team
and potentially win a medal in their respective sport," according to David
Evans, Vice President of Marketing Communications at Sealy. Sealy's Hopefuls
program will create additional excitement for the upcoming Games with
consumers and Sealy employees, and especially for Sealy's retailers.
"Sealy is proud to support some of our country's best athletes, and we
look forward to watching them compete in Athens," said Evans. "This Olympic
program benefits our retail partners by providing them with timely, eye-
catching point-of-sale materials that feature the 12 athletes who comprise our
Olympic Hopefuls team. It also gives retail sales associates some common
ground on which to talk to customers, as Sealy has selected athletes in the
most popular and most talked about Olympic sports."
Sealy will be featuring the program in select trade advertising and in a
special micro-site on its Sealy.com website, beginning later this summer. The
athletes participating in Sealy's Olympic program are (bios available on
request):

Amy Acuff, track & field
Catherine Reddick, soccer
Eric Fonoimoana, beach volleyball
Ian Crocker, swimming
Jennie Finch, softball
Laura Wilkinson, diving
Lenny Krayzelburg, swimming
Logan Tom, indoor volleyball
Morgan Hamm, gymnastics
Neil Walker, swimming
Toccara Montgomery, women's wrestling
Tyree Washington, track & field

In addition to the Olympic athletes program, Sealy recently began airing
four new national Olympic-themed television spots. The spots are set in
athletic training center dorm rooms and spoof the ways Olympic athletes might
get into bed using the physical attributes of their respective sports. In
each spot, the athletes fall into deep, restful sleep after experiencing the
comfort of a Sealy Posturepedic.

Sealy, Inc.
Sealy is the largest bedding manufacturer in the world. In the U.S.,
Sealy serves more than 7,000 retail outlets in all 50 states. Including its
subsidiaries, Sealy has 31 manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada,
France, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. There are a total of 12
international licensees operating in Spain, Portugal, Australia, Israel,
Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, South
Africa, the Bahamas and the United Kingdom. In addition to its licensees,
Sealy has a joint venture in Southeast Asia and Korea.
Sealy produces and sells a full range of mattresses under the Sealy, Sealy
Posturepedic(R), Stearns & Foster and Bassett brand names. Sealy-branded
licensed products include: crib mattresses, sheets, pillows, mattress pads and
comforters, office chairs, futons and sleep sofas. More information on Sealy,
Inc. can be accessed at http://www.sealy.com.

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U.S. women’s freestyle Olympians to compete at the 2004 Titan Games, Built by Home Depot

6/8/2004
John Fuller/USA Wrestling

USA Wrestling has announced its women’s freestyle lineup for the 2004 Titan Games, Built by Home Depot, in Atlanta, Ga., June 18-20.

All four 2004 Olympic Team members will compete at the event.

The Titan Games will be the final chance for wrestling fans to see the 2004 U.S. Olympic Teams in all three styles compete before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. USA Wrestling will announce the Greco-Roman team on Wednesday.

This will be the first Olympic Games to feature women’s wrestling, the only new sport of the 2004 Olympic Games.

“This is the first chance for our women to compete as an Olympic Team,” stated USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach and 2004 Olympic Coach Terry Steiner. “This is an important event in showcasing women’s wrestling to the nation while also getting good competition in before the Olympic Games.”

The team will have three 2003 World silver medalists: Patricia Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Sara McMann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.

Miranda (2000, 2003) and Montgomery (2001, 2003) have won two World silver medals each.

Miranda is a three-time U.S. Nationals champion (2002-04). She deferred her enrollment to Yale Law School to train full-time for the Olympic Games. As a member of the varsity men’s wrestling team at Stanford Univ., she started as a senior.

Montgomery is a four-time U.S. Nationals champion (2001-04). In 2001, she was named the FILA Women’s Wrestler of the Year after winning a World silver medal at the age of 18 years old.

McMann also competed on a varsity men’s team in college, competing at Lock Haven Univ. She has won four U.S. Nationals titles (2000-03) and has competed in four World Championships.

2003 U.S. Nationals champion Tela O’Donnell (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) rounds out the U.S. roster. She will compete at 55 kg/121 lbs.

The coaches of the U.S. women’s freestyle squad will be 2004 Olympic coaches Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Townsend Saunders (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Tricia Saunders (Phoenix, Ariz.).

Wrestling will again be one of the featured sports at the Titan Games, along with boxing, fencing, weightlifting, judo, taekwondo and shot put. Philips Arena is serving as the competition venue and Centennial Olympic Park is serving as the backdrop for the shot put.

Wrestling will be contested on Saturday, June 19 and Sunday, June 20.

The Titan Games will feature a “USA versus the World” format in dual and triangular meets. In men’s freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman, the teams competing against the United States will be the Republic of Georgia and Spain. In women’s freestyle, the opponents will be Canada and China.

In women’s freestyle, the U.S. team was second in the 2003 World Championships. China was fourth and Canada sixth at the 2003 World meet. All three teams have qualified all four women’s weight classes for the Olympic Games. Canadian women participated in the 2003 Titan Games.

Individual session tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

There are two packages available for purchase for wrestling fans. Package A features a $120 all-session floor pass, with only 100 available. This includes VIP Hospitality, matside seating and a chance to meet and greet wrestling legends.

Package B features a $60 All-Session Lower Level Seating ticket, which will be placed in the arena where the wrestling mat is located. Only 707 of these prime seats exist.

Final rosters of all competing nations will be posted on TheMat.com as they become available.

Titan Games, Built by Home Depot
June 18-20, 2004 at Atlanta, Ga.
U.S. Women’s Freestyle Wrestling Roster
48 kg/105.5 lbs. – Patricia Miranda, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dave Schultz WC)
55 kg/121 lbs. – Tela O’Donnell, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Dave Schultz WC)
63 kg/138.75 lbs. – Sara McMann, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
72 kg/158.5 lbs. – Toccara Montgomery, Cleveland, Ohio (New York AC)
Coaches: Terry Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Townsend Saunders (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Tricia Saunders (Phoenix, Ariz.)

The Titan Games
A property of the U.S. Olympic Committee in partnership with the affiliated National Governing Bodies and hosted by the Atlanta Sports Council, The Titan Games, Built by Home Depot, is a multi-sport competition featuring the Olympic sports of boxing, fencing, judo, shot put, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling. The edgy, fast-paced mini-sports festival debuted in 2003 and will be final competition for more than 180 U.S. and international athletes on their Road to Athens. The Titan Games – It’s not all the Olympic Sports, Just the Most Painful Ones!