Wrestling schedule update, World Cup, Brands on women’s wrestling

It’s August, so wrestling season doesn’t start for another couple months, but there are a few notes as we head closer to the start of competition.

First off, on Wednesday, Iowa released its home slate of meets for the 2017-18 season.

Iowa gets Oklahoma State on Friday, Jan. 12, Michigan on either Jan. 26 (Friday) or Jan. 28 (Sunday), and Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 2. Those should be the real fun meets.

There’s a couple other home dates — Illinois on Friday, Dec. 1, Michigan State on Jan. 5, and Rider on Nov. 24, and Northwestern on Sunday, Feb. 4, which is the last home date for the Hawkeyes.

Though last, but not least, all this action gets started on Friday, Nov. 17 when the Hawkeyes host the annual Iowa City Duals, which will bring in Buffalo, Iowa Central, and North Dakota State.

Season tickets are $80, which is a pretty good deal considering the slate of home meets Iowa has this year. Single-dual ticket sales start on Oct. 31 for season ticket holders and Nov. 1 for the general public. The deadline to renew season tickets is Sept. 8.

All-in-all, it’s a fairly good schedule for a rebuilding Hawkeye team. Iowa has to travel to Iowa State, Ohio State, and Penn State, but getting the Cowboys and Gophers at home isn’t a terrible deal.

After losing some studs from last years team, this is going to be something of a rebuilding year for the Hawkeyes anyways. It’ll be a trial by fire, but there’s something to be said for that.

We’ll keep you covered as the wrestling season gets closer, but this is some of the first big news of the year.

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Carver-Hawkeye Arena will also play host to the 2018 iteration of the United World Wrestling Cup in April — either the 7-8 or the 21-22, both of which are weekends.

This is a big deal. The World Cup is a dual meet which brings the Top-8 teams in the world to Iowa. That’s pretty cool.

The United States will definitely be there, which means we’ll get to see the U.S. national team and, more importantly for the Iowa faithful, Thomas Gilman, who is currently on the squad. Olympic medalists Jordan Burroughs, J’Den Cox, and Kyle Snyder will also be some of the names in attendance.

This isn’t an event the Hawkeyes have ever hosted, so to get this is a huge boon for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is still the heart of wrestling country and to get this type of prestigious event... well, that’s something special.

That said, it certainly won’t be cheap. Here are the packages, straight from the Iowa Athletic Department:

TICKET OPTIONS

Gold Package - $225 (preferred seating)

· 2018 UWW World Cup all-session preferred seating ticket within 10 rows of the competition mats.

· One (1) parking pass in a reserved lot (per 4 tickets ordered - no option to select the lot)

· UWW World Cup souvenir program (one per ticket ordered)

· Souvenir UWW World Cup ticket and lanyard (one per ticket ordered)

Black Package - $150

· 2018 UWW World Cup all-session ticket.

· One (1) parking pass in a reserved lot (per 4 tickets ordered - no option to select the lot)

· UWW World Cup souvenir program (one per ticket ordered)

· Souvenir UWW World Cup ticket and lanyard (one per ticket ordered)

UWW World Cup All-Session Tickets - Adult - $75, Youth - $50

· All-Session Ticket Only

Woof. That’s a hefty price, but to see some of the best wrestling the world has to offer... well there’s certainly an argument to be made. World Cup tickets are on sale as you read this.

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Let’s get one thing out of the way: women’s wrestling absolutely should be considered an emerging sport and start the process toward it being distinguished as a varsity sport.

Women’s wrestling was added to the Olympics in 2004, the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association has had national championships since that same year and currently there are 30 schools who offer women’s wrestling as a sport.

Brands lending his voice to this issue is an nice gesture and could very well have an impact. When Iowa had the Olympic Trials in 2016, several of the women’s wrestlers could be found in the Hawkeye’s wrestling room under Carver and it would stand to reason some conversations were had about this.

Speculation, yes, but Brands has always been for growing wrestling and expanding the women’s divisions of the sport is long overdue.

Personally, I think that wrestling is a sport for everyone, no matter what their gender. I’ve always been impressed by the female high school wrestlers in Iowa that have given the sport a shot... wrestling has long been a boys club, but it doesn’t need to be that.

There’s certainly resistance to the idea, resistance I don’t understand:

Wrestling literally isn’t a men’s only sport and to think it is... is backwards. Brands supporting women’s wrestling is a step in the right direction, but there’s more work to be done.

Just my two cents.