[SBR Drew]

1. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held in a stadium for the first time.
Moving from an arena to a stadium for the first time in its history, there is an unprecedented opportunity for additional fans to witness the preeminent event in collegiate wrestling. More tickets are available than ever before with a chance for fans to surpass the all-time collegiate wrestling attendance record of 42,287 set during the Oklahoma State-Iowa dual match at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 14, 2015.

2. The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have had 10 consecutive sellouts. Since the 2010 championships in Omaha, Neb, the event has sold out arenas around the country, including Madison Square Garden in New York, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The current NCAA Wrestling Championships attendance records were set during the 2018 event in Cleveland when a total of 113,743 fans attended over six sessions, including 19,776 for the championship finals.


3. A free Fan Festival takes over the Armory just two blocks from U.S. Bank Stadium. On March 20-21, fans can watch Team USA wrestlers practice, attend autograph sessions and a coaches clinic, buy wrestling memorabilia, and take part in an NCAA semifinals preview show. Free and open to the public, the Fan Festival will be an added food and beverage outlet for wrestling fans between sessions.


4. Minneapolis is hosting the championships for the first time in 24 years. The event returns to Minneapolis for the second time ever and the first time since the University of Minnesota hosted the 1996 championships. Iowa claimed the national title over runner-up Iowa State, while Cal State Bakersfield, Penn State and Nebraska rounded out the top five.


5. A 330-man tournament will be conducted in 10 weight classes (125 pounds, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197 and heavyweight) to crown individual national champions. The top eight finishers in the double-elimination format will be honored as All-Americans. Wrestlers also accumulate points for their institution with every win as they advance through the bracket to decide the team national champion. Wrestlers will compete in seven-minute matches and will advance through six different competition sessions with the individual national championship matches occurring on Saturday evening, March 21.

[hawkeye 16]

Pumped! Nice post Drew.