Iowa wrestling yet again posts staggering attendance numbers
Whatever you do, do not label wrestling as just another sport at the University of Iowa.
While football will always get the attention—it is by far the most popular sport in the country and the Hawkeyes tend to be quite good at it—the wrestling mat is the true symbol of the Hawkeye State.
From the high school level where we just saw future Hawkeyes dominate at the IHSAA State Wrestling Championships to the collegiate ranks with a combined 34 national championships within the state of Iowa (thank you for your contribution Cornell College), few states embody the spirit of wrestling like the Hawkeye State. I mean, the site of the first ever wrestling national championship was in the state of Iowa.
Wrestling isn’t the other sport coinciding with basketball in Iowa City as it is for other schools, it is the main attraction. It is the fire inside of Carver–Hawkeye Arena that keeps the fanbase going through the extremely cold Iowa winters.
The stats back up just how much Iowans love their wrestling, too. As reported by FloWrestling, Iowa averaged over 14,000 per home dual for the second year in a row this season. They have also averaged over 10,000 during five of the past seven seasons. The past two years post-Covid really tell the whole story. Carver-Hawkeye Arena is sold out for every Iowa dual, something we’ve known since the beginning of the season.
Iowa enters the postseason with a 15-1 dual record and very much in contention for both the Big Ten and national championships. With the success of the Iowa program this year as well as the pedigree of incoming recruits, don’t expect those attendance numbers to dip anytime soon!
𝓜𝔂 𝓗𝓪𝔀𝓴𝓮𝔂𝓮 𝓔𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 | @leespencerlee36
#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/ai34hxm6wp— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) February 24, 2023
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