Eight very cool and iconic locations to see great college wrestling this season
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
You can credit Mike Novogratz and his Beat the Streets gang in New York City for this. Novogratz took a risk that people would like to watch wrestling in historic and well-known public places, and he created a buzz with the Beat the Streets Gala events in New York City. He started with the U.S.S. Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, then moved the event to Times Square and during the Keep Olympic Wrestling year, held international dual meets in Grand Central Terminal.
Others were soon inspired. On November 14, 2016, the University of Iowa invited Oklahoma State to compete in historic Kinnick Stadium on the Iowa campus, and set the NCAA attendance record with a reported 42,287 in attendance. (I was there, and think it may have been even more). Other schools, such as Rutgers and Cornell College, have had matches in football stadiums. Many other colleges have hosted outdoor practices, wrestle-offs and dual meets. This has turned into a very fun way to enjoy college wrestling, and expose new people to the sport.
A look at this year’s eight “non-traditional” locations to see college wrestling this year.
8. Softball diamond – “Dual on the Diamond” - Western State at Colorado Mesa, at Suplizio Field, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.
This trend is not just a Div. I thing. A pair of regular Div. II rivals from the RMAC will battle at Suplizio Field at Lincoln Park in Grand Junction, Colo. This will be the first of two dual meets between these schools, their opening dual in November, with the second at Western State in Gunnison, Colo. on February 1. (Probably can’t wrestle outside in February in Colorado).
7. Hockey Rink – Penn State at Lehigh, at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.
The 106th meeting between Lehigh and Penn State will move to downtown Allentown to the PPL Center, the 8,500 seat home of the American Hockey League’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. This will allow Lehigh to attract a much larger crowd than possible on their campus arenas, while allowing many more people to see two of the best college wrestling teams in the USA. The previous attendance record for a Lehigh match was 5,909 in February 2016, when Penn State came and helped sell out Stabler Arena. This arena holds 10,000 for concerts, so it will be great to see how many wrestling people in the Keystone state show up for this great dual meet.
6. Theater – Missouri at Virginia Tech at Moss Arts Center on campus, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m.
This is not a new one but it is a great one. Virginia Tech has held seven previous matches in the Moss Arts Center, which is a neat on campus center for performing arts including plays, symphonies, modern music and dance. It is a great place to see performance art, which for sure Div. I wrestling qualifies. People can order regular theater seats, but can also buy one of those cool boxes which are on the sides of the theater. Looking at the photos of past matches, this for sure would be a great fan experience. By the way, Tech is 7-0 when wrestling in the Moss Arts Center, and Mizzou will be a big time test for the Hokies.
5. College Football Stadium – Maryland at Rutgers at High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, N.J., Nov. 4, 12 noon
Initially, this event was scheduled for the most famous major league baseball stadium in the nation, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City, prior to the Big Ten football game which would follow the wrestling dual. (This was going to be high on our list, for sure). However, as the Yankees advanced to the American League Championship Series and looked like they would make the World Series (which could conflict with the event), Rutgers moved the event back to its High Point Solutions Stadium. (Of course, after the decision, the Yankees would lose the last two games of the ALCS to Houston and would not need Yankee Stadium). This is not the first dual in this great location, as Rutgers wrestled Princeton there in “the Battle at the Birthplace” last yeara, setting the second highest attendance with 16,178 fans. It will be interesting to see how the late change in location affects the turnout, but with good weather anticipated, New Jersey is a great wrestling state and it should draw a nice crowd for sure.
4. Softball Diamond – Illinois at Missouri at Mizzou Softball Field, Nov. 4 at 4:00 p.m.
The Tigers will have two appearances in iconic locations this year, including hosting Illinois in the Mizzou Softball Stadium, for the first “non-softball” event held there since it opened in March 2017. This is a $17.5 million high-end facility for softball, the new jewel in Sports Park there. With 700 chairback seats and a 300 square foot video board, this is for sure a modern facility. General admission seating will be given to the first 2,000 ticket buyers. Season ticket holders will have access to the “Tiger Style Lounge,” where fans can congregate prior to the match. Plus, both teams are college powers, with an exciting dual meet on tap.
3. Theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright – “Grappling at Gammage,” Pitt at Arizona State, Nov. 19 at 12 noon
Arizona State is one of the campuses which has the weather for outside wrestling, but this year, Zeke Jones’ troops are moving a dual meet indoors to Gammage Theater on their Tempe campus. This theater was designed initially by past ASU President Grady Gammage and famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, way back in the 1950s. Neither lived to see it completed when it opened in 1964. The theater is built in a circle, like a sports arena, which makes it an ideal setting for a wrestling match. Wrestlers will get to show their stuff in a venue which housed B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Elton John and the Phantom of the Opera. It should be a great place for the Valencia brothers to perform and new Panther head coach Keith Gavin to show off his team.
2. Naples, Italy – “Tussle for the Troops,” Oklahoma State vs. NC State, Naples, Italy, January 5
Dubbed as the first NCAA Div. I dual meet held outside of North America, these two nationally ranked programs will travel to Naples, Italy for a college wrestling showdown. NC State head coach Pat Popolizio wrestled at Oklahoma State, and has invited his alma mater to face his Wolfpack team 4,794 miles from their Raleigh campus. Pat’s brother Frank Popolizio, a master at promoting wrestling events, and his Journeymen Wrestling Club is involved in the event also. There are more details to come about this match, but you don’t need too much imagination to consider just how cool this dual meet could be.
1. Aircraft Carrier – “Battle on the Midway”, Air Force vs. Fresno State, U.S.S. Midway, San Diego, Nov. 21 at 7:00 p.m.
The wrestling community is fired up about the return of Fresno State to Div. I college wrestling. The first Big 12 dual meet for the revived Bulldog program will venture south to San Diego, where they will face the U.S. Air Force Academy on the historic U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego harbor. Since San Diego is such a strong military town, bringing in a service academy opponent on this historic ship makes great sense. There will be a limit of 1,500 seats available for this dual meet, which is marketed as a military appreciation match. Also planned will be some Team USA international matches before the college dual meet. Although there was a Beat the Streets international dual on an aircraft carrier, this will be the first college dual staged on this kind of massive ship. The Midway was one of the nation’s longest serving aircraft carriers, and is now a museum, with 60 exhibits and 29 restored aircraft. Who wouldn’t want to be outside in San Diego in November, anyway?
Others were soon inspired. On November 14, 2016, the University of Iowa invited Oklahoma State to compete in historic Kinnick Stadium on the Iowa campus, and set the NCAA attendance record with a reported 42,287 in attendance. (I was there, and think it may have been even more). Other schools, such as Rutgers and Cornell College, have had matches in football stadiums. Many other colleges have hosted outdoor practices, wrestle-offs and dual meets. This has turned into a very fun way to enjoy college wrestling, and expose new people to the sport.
A look at this year’s eight “non-traditional” locations to see college wrestling this year.
8. Softball diamond – “Dual on the Diamond” - Western State at Colorado Mesa, at Suplizio Field, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.
This trend is not just a Div. I thing. A pair of regular Div. II rivals from the RMAC will battle at Suplizio Field at Lincoln Park in Grand Junction, Colo. This will be the first of two dual meets between these schools, their opening dual in November, with the second at Western State in Gunnison, Colo. on February 1. (Probably can’t wrestle outside in February in Colorado).
7. Hockey Rink – Penn State at Lehigh, at PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., Dec. 3 at 2 p.m.
The 106th meeting between Lehigh and Penn State will move to downtown Allentown to the PPL Center, the 8,500 seat home of the American Hockey League’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. This will allow Lehigh to attract a much larger crowd than possible on their campus arenas, while allowing many more people to see two of the best college wrestling teams in the USA. The previous attendance record for a Lehigh match was 5,909 in February 2016, when Penn State came and helped sell out Stabler Arena. This arena holds 10,000 for concerts, so it will be great to see how many wrestling people in the Keystone state show up for this great dual meet.
6. Theater – Missouri at Virginia Tech at Moss Arts Center on campus, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m.
This is not a new one but it is a great one. Virginia Tech has held seven previous matches in the Moss Arts Center, which is a neat on campus center for performing arts including plays, symphonies, modern music and dance. It is a great place to see performance art, which for sure Div. I wrestling qualifies. People can order regular theater seats, but can also buy one of those cool boxes which are on the sides of the theater. Looking at the photos of past matches, this for sure would be a great fan experience. By the way, Tech is 7-0 when wrestling in the Moss Arts Center, and Mizzou will be a big time test for the Hokies.
5. College Football Stadium – Maryland at Rutgers at High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, N.J., Nov. 4, 12 noon
Initially, this event was scheduled for the most famous major league baseball stadium in the nation, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York City, prior to the Big Ten football game which would follow the wrestling dual. (This was going to be high on our list, for sure). However, as the Yankees advanced to the American League Championship Series and looked like they would make the World Series (which could conflict with the event), Rutgers moved the event back to its High Point Solutions Stadium. (Of course, after the decision, the Yankees would lose the last two games of the ALCS to Houston and would not need Yankee Stadium). This is not the first dual in this great location, as Rutgers wrestled Princeton there in “the Battle at the Birthplace” last yeara, setting the second highest attendance with 16,178 fans. It will be interesting to see how the late change in location affects the turnout, but with good weather anticipated, New Jersey is a great wrestling state and it should draw a nice crowd for sure.
4. Softball Diamond – Illinois at Missouri at Mizzou Softball Field, Nov. 4 at 4:00 p.m.
The Tigers will have two appearances in iconic locations this year, including hosting Illinois in the Mizzou Softball Stadium, for the first “non-softball” event held there since it opened in March 2017. This is a $17.5 million high-end facility for softball, the new jewel in Sports Park there. With 700 chairback seats and a 300 square foot video board, this is for sure a modern facility. General admission seating will be given to the first 2,000 ticket buyers. Season ticket holders will have access to the “Tiger Style Lounge,” where fans can congregate prior to the match. Plus, both teams are college powers, with an exciting dual meet on tap.
3. Theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright – “Grappling at Gammage,” Pitt at Arizona State, Nov. 19 at 12 noon
Arizona State is one of the campuses which has the weather for outside wrestling, but this year, Zeke Jones’ troops are moving a dual meet indoors to Gammage Theater on their Tempe campus. This theater was designed initially by past ASU President Grady Gammage and famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, way back in the 1950s. Neither lived to see it completed when it opened in 1964. The theater is built in a circle, like a sports arena, which makes it an ideal setting for a wrestling match. Wrestlers will get to show their stuff in a venue which housed B.B. King, Johnny Cash, Elton John and the Phantom of the Opera. It should be a great place for the Valencia brothers to perform and new Panther head coach Keith Gavin to show off his team.
2. Naples, Italy – “Tussle for the Troops,” Oklahoma State vs. NC State, Naples, Italy, January 5
Dubbed as the first NCAA Div. I dual meet held outside of North America, these two nationally ranked programs will travel to Naples, Italy for a college wrestling showdown. NC State head coach Pat Popolizio wrestled at Oklahoma State, and has invited his alma mater to face his Wolfpack team 4,794 miles from their Raleigh campus. Pat’s brother Frank Popolizio, a master at promoting wrestling events, and his Journeymen Wrestling Club is involved in the event also. There are more details to come about this match, but you don’t need too much imagination to consider just how cool this dual meet could be.
1. Aircraft Carrier – “Battle on the Midway”, Air Force vs. Fresno State, U.S.S. Midway, San Diego, Nov. 21 at 7:00 p.m.
The wrestling community is fired up about the return of Fresno State to Div. I college wrestling. The first Big 12 dual meet for the revived Bulldog program will venture south to San Diego, where they will face the U.S. Air Force Academy on the historic U.S.S. Midway aircraft carrier in San Diego harbor. Since San Diego is such a strong military town, bringing in a service academy opponent on this historic ship makes great sense. There will be a limit of 1,500 seats available for this dual meet, which is marketed as a military appreciation match. Also planned will be some Team USA international matches before the college dual meet. Although there was a Beat the Streets international dual on an aircraft carrier, this will be the first college dual staged on this kind of massive ship. The Midway was one of the nation’s longest serving aircraft carriers, and is now a museum, with 60 exhibits and 29 restored aircraft. Who wouldn’t want to be outside in San Diego in November, anyway?
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