What do you get when you take a top-ranked Division III wrestler from Golden Valley, Minnesota, and add the seven-time women's national judo champion from Uzbekistan?

It sounds like a party joke -- or perhaps a movie -- but it's reality for senior wrestling heavyweight LeRoy Gardner III, a Division III all-American from Wartburg College who married Suzanna Gardner less than two years ago.

LeRoy and Suzanna, who now goes by Suzy, spotted each other during the opening ceremonies of the 2001 Junior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Suzy was recognized there for her judo excellence, and Leroy was the flag bearer for the U.S. World Junior Greco-Roman wrestling team. It was as close to love at first sight as you can get.

LeRoy worked to get her attention, while he was still carrying the flag.

"I knew he was looking at me," Suzy said in an interview with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. "I couldn't see him, but my girlfriends were all telling me, 'This guy is looking at you.' So finally, I slowly turned around and gave him a big smile."

Had LeRoy not been the persistent, polite type, the romance may not have gone any further.

Using hand signals to communicate with one of the Uzbekistan arena security guards, LeRoy managed to get one of the guards to ask her if she would take a photograph with him. She came over and one of LeRoy's teammates took the photo. Then to everyone's surprise, Suzy asked, in English, "Where are you from in the United States?"

LeRoy was so excited that she spoke English that he asked her to dinner on the spot. She declined, reminding him he had to wrestle first.

LeRoy and another U.S. teammate, Oklahoma State University heavyweight Mike Christian, eventually ended up going out with Suzy and one of her friends. Though it wasn't a perfect date, Gardner was smitten. They spent a day together and exchanged phone numbers and promises of calls.

Then Suzy received a call from her father to return home. She promised she'd return later, but she never did.

LeRoy was heartbroken, particularly after he called her cell phone several times and got no answer.

What LeRoy didn't know, however, was that Suzy's father thought her cell phone bill was too high and he cut off her phone privileges for a short time.

"During the whole 17 hours back on the plane, I was wondering what happened," LeRoy said. "I was convinced she wouldn't leave things that way since we seemed to have such great conversations."

When he got back to the States, LeRoy called one last time and Suzy answered.

"I loved his voice when I heard it," Suzy said. "I told him I was so sorry, and that it was all my fault. It wasn't my dad's fault either. I was the one to ring up the big phone bill."

The two kept in touch over the next several weeks, and 9-11 kept Suzy from traveling. Eventually, LeRoy convinced her to come to the United States for a visit. She first visited friends in New York City and then came to Minnesota to see LeRoy, his family in Golden Valley, and of course, Wartburg.

When it was time for Suzy's trip to end, LeRoy surprised her with a marriage proposal.

"I don't remember the exact words, but it was something like, 'I love you and I don't want you to go back to New York. I don't want you to go back home,' " he said.

Because she expressed the same feelings to him, and because her travel visa would expire just a little more than two months after they first met, LeRoy asked her to marry him.

But Suzy wanted to be sure they didn't rush into anything.

"I was 23 and he was just about ready to turn 21," she recalled. "I really didn't want to put him in a situation and have him change his mind. But he assured me that this was what he wanted. I finally said, 'That question you asked me? Yes, I will marry you.' "

They were married November 24, 2001, in Golden Valley.

Now the couple is busy with the "happily ever after" part of their lives.

Perhaps the most surprising part of their marriage has been Suzy's role in helping LeRoy be the best wrestler he can be. He knew he was getting a lifetime partner, world-class athlete and fan in his new wife, but he also got another coach of sorts.

Since some of the wrestling holds and moves are similar to those in judo, Suzy has some thoughts for her husband about what might work for him. And given her past success, she wasn't shy about sharing her views. She's toned it down a little as far as coaching him during a match, though she's still showing him new moves.

"She's shown me some techniques that really surprised some guys because they didn't expect it," LeRoy said, noting that he's become more agile and used some moves that are rare for a heavyweight. LeRoy respects his wife's expertise, no doubt about that.

"If I didn't weigh 260, she could probably take me down. There have been a couple of times when we've been working together and she showed me a move, while I was defending, and she hit it."

Besides working with LeRoy on technique, Suzy also has provided him with the knowledge of what it takes to be a champion.

"She's taught me the Eastern Block/Soviet philosophy that you rest as hard as you work," LeRoy said. "And that's important because at my age you normally go as hard as you can until you can't anymore."

So what do you get when you pair the boy from Minnesota with the girl from Uzbekistan? A national championship. Gardner won his first national title -- the Division III heavyweight championship -- earlier this month.