I wrote a blog on April 12, 2017 entitled: The greatest wrestling training facility…in the world
In that blog I stated:
Simply put, I want “The greatest wrestling training facility…in the world” to be the home of Iowa Wrestling.
Yesterday I attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and dedication for the opening of the new wrestling facility. I then took a long tour of the new facility.
The Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center and Bob and Kathy Nicolls Wrestling Room is the greatest wrestling training facility…in the world. Home of Iowa Wrestling in Wrestle Town USA – Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
I will also state that anything I write in this and future blogs about the new facility will not do it justice. You will have to tour the new facility to get a feel for how incredible it truly is. I am hoping the facility will be open before the first home football game on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I will keep you posted.
When I was walking around I was seeing a facility, equipment, and layout that I did not know was even an option. It is that impressive.
I started by looking at the offices that have a full length window that overlooks the wrestling room below.
The sheer size of the wrestling room is massive with brand new mats. The tradition from Carver was carried on when I immediately saw IOWA HAWKS CHAMPS in big bold letters across the far wall from the mats as well as the Olympic Rings..
The weight room has new equipment with individual power stations that is impressive. A nice assortment of dumbbells topping out at 220 lbs., fat grip dumbbells and kettlebells will provide plenty of future workouts.
There is a separate sauna and cool baths for both the men’s and women’s teams. The new sauna for the men is probably at least three times bigger than the old sauna in Carver. There was even a station to put wrestling shoes on to dry them out.
The locker room area, special rooms and offices for Team Trainers. Every little detail was planned out and it shows. Everything was done right.
I was so impressed with the wrestling room tour that I suddenly thought about the tunnel. No description will come close to describing an underground tunnel that you walk through from the wrestling room and come out on the floor of Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Walking through the tunnel is like something from a movie. About every ten feet there is a light around the tunnel to give you some depth perspective. When you look down the tunnel you can just see the arena floor. Then as you get closer the arena floor continues to get bigger until you are on the main floor of Carver.
I would think having a recruit walk through that tunnel and feel the energy of the famous Iowa Wrestling crowd would be influential. Walking out with the team may be influential for a booster as well. It was a great experience for me in May when the stands were empty. I can only imagine what it will be like with another packed house of loud fans.
I am hoping that they follow the team from the room all the way through the tunnel before they make their entrance in Carver. I can see it now on the jumbotron and scoreboards as the team makes that journey before running through a fog to a packed and loud sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena. As a fan I cannot wait to experience the team entrance from the tunnel before a dual meet.
I could keep going but I will suggest that you take a tour of the Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center and Bob and Kathy Nicolls Wrestling Room. It is The greatest wrestling training facility…in the world.
The $31-million, 38,500-square-foot building was funded entirely by private gifts. That is amazing.
I tip my hat to Tom Brands, the donors, and everyone involved with the construction of this amazing training facility. This facility sets a new standard for the entire sport of wrestling around the world.
All Hawkeye fans and alumni should be proud and excited about this new facility. It is the greatest.
I will be posting additional blogs about the new facility.
It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.
Go Hawks!
