Iowa Wrestling finished the regular season in style with a 34-6 win over #9 Oklahoma State on Sunday. For a fan there was a lot going on and Iowa Wrestling was clicking on all cylinders Sunday for a special day. Attendance records were broken, a great event hosted by the HWC before the meet, it was Alumni Day and Senior Day, and overall just a special day to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
The day started with a Hawkeye Wrestling Club Social at Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City. Mother Nature was on our side with a very rare February day of over 50 degrees. That allowed for an overflow crowd outside. It is hard to say exactly how many people were there. I would bet that there were more people there than at more than a few D-I college wrestling dual meets.
Brad Eldeen gave an update of the HWC and Inner Circle. Brad did a really good job organizing this event that was a success. There is a lot of work done behind the scenes by HWC members like Brad and others and their work is appreciated and a big boost to the support of Iowa Wrestling and the HWC. This was an impressive event and I hope we see more like it next season.
HWC Head Coach Mark Perry gave an HWC update. He talked about the importance of the HWC for the support of the wrestlers. He mentioned that Thomas Gilman and Kayla Miracle are competing in the Pan-American Olympic Qualifier in Ottawa, Canada on March 14-15. This is a very important tournament because we have to place in the top two at each weight to qualify that weight for USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
I then made my way to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the Iowa Wrestling Alumni Reunion. It was great to see Iowa Wrestling greats of the past that I had not seen in years. Two-time NCAA champion Chuck Yagla puts in a lot of work in making this event happen now for the last three years. I really hope this tradition continues.
Even the National Anthem was special. Gigi Bragg sings the National Anthem better than anybody I have ever heard and the crowd letter her know how great it was. I believe this is the third year Gigi has performed the National Anthem at an Iowa Wrestling meet and I swear she is getting even better every year.
The Iowa Wrestling team came out to a crowd of over 13,000 and went through a tunnel of the Iowa wrestlers that were there for the reunion. That was a great great sight to see. With 13,109 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to watch Iowa vs. Oklahoma State, that pushed the total attendance for the year to 87,979 for seven home dual meets. The new single-season NCAA average attendance record for college wrestling is 12,568.
I have to say it one more time:
Single-season NCAA average attendance record for wrestling: 12,568 – The University of Iowa.
To see Iowa win 8 of 10 matches against Oklahoma State was impressive. The Hawks looked very good and appear to be peaking at the right time for the tournament season.
After the meet eleven Iowa wrestlers were honored for Senior Day. Michael Kemerer is also in that class and he will be applying for a medical hardship redshirt at the end of the season. With the current application process, it looks pretty certain that Kemerer will be granted a sixth year.
What a special day to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Iowa competes next at the Big Ten Championships in Piscataway, New Jersey at Rutgers on March 7-8.
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
