SHAWN CROSSEN was 13 years old when he got the idea for the Kids' National Wrestling Federation show. Now, two years and 53 shows later, the kid wrestlers are a favorite access show for children and adults alike and not only in the Twin Cities area. The show is broadcast in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Miami, Denver, Cleveland and Omaha, Neb.

"I've always been interested in TV," said Crossen, "and when the Group W salesperson came to the door and explained how we could use access, that just kind of encouraged me to call up and take the classes. Just picturing yourself on TV and producing it your- self, that's what really got me. So I took the basic three classes and tried to make a few productions. We tried doing various kinds of skit things, but they didn't work. And I looked for something different and unique. Then we thought of the wrestling thing, and it's been going ever since."

The show Shawn produces is a kid's replica of the rough-and-tumble wrestling shows aired on commercial television, down to the grudge matches and shouted interviews with announcers. The show is shot in Shawn's garage in front of a small audience, using a tear- down authentic-looking ring. The lightweight category of wrestlers includes 10-to-12-year-olds. The other wrestlers are 12 to 15 years old. All the talent is volunteer, and not infrequently there are more volunteers than needed. Shawn does everything in the show, including running the camera, scripting the matches and wrestling (under the name of Crusher).

"We started out doing fake wrestling," the Crusher said, "but then we thought, 'Why don't we do it for real and see what happens?' So we did, and what happened was, for one, too many people were getting hurt, even if it was little bruises or whatnot. For two, all you would see is this ground-wrestling stuff, and it was really boring. So I found out now that's why they don't do real wrestling in the pros, either, because it's real boring.

"It's been so fun doing this that we never get bored doing any show. Even the wrestlers say they look forward to doing it. Because a lot of times there's nothing to do, and this kind of keeps you involved. It can get to be expensive for me, but it's been worth it. The tapes cost money, and sending them to the different cities costs only a few stamps a tape, but the big investment was building our ring. I had to stick a good $300 into it. We made the ring right around Christmas, so I got some money for it as Christmas presents, but I saved the rest from my allowance, and from what I make being a busboy.

"If it ever comes to the point where we have to lay off the show, which I certainly don't want to do, I'll get into something else in television production, that's for sure. I've gotten so involved in wrestling that it's pitiful. If I have another show, it will probably be about wrestling, only we won't wrestle ourselves. It could be just a show where you can talk about all the wrestling things that are going on out there."