Envy
- Thread starter NEICyFan
- Start date
Different sport. Obviously we will have a better atmosphere for our basketball game than they did for their wrestling meet.
But back to the original question: it would take us becoming relevant in wrestling again. Being on the verge of being ranked isn't doing us any good in a sport with much fewer participants, where we have been dominant in the past. In short, yes. But it would take an improvement in the team to do so.
I don't see it. I don't follow wrestling closely, but my impression is it is a dying sport currently. So even with success at ISU, I don't see the fan base coming back to what it once was. It is much harder to win back fans than it would have been to maintain the fan base like Iowa did.
I could be wrong, and the support could be there. I just don't see it.
Considering the reference to Carver-Hawkeye, I hope we don't ever get to the level of 15,000 doosh-nozzle fans in attendance cheering for the Cyclones.
But that's just me....
It's not a dying sport overall but I can see where someone in the Big 12 might see it as dying considering the Big 12 went from a very good wrestling league with lots of wrestling schools to a not very good wrestling league with few wrestling schools. It will never be as big (or even close) as basketball even at a place like Iowa. I'd put it's importance on par with college hockey or womens basketball.
I doubt it. Like many things ISU that sport for us has simply taken too many kicks to the junk.
Twist it however you like - when Sanderson left us it may have been the final straw. I mean how many Gables can go through.
Twist it however you like - when Sanderson left us it may have been the final straw. I mean how many Gables can go through.
FIRE KEVIN JACKSON... I agree one hundred percent with that assessment. Until we er JP hires a wrestling coach who can recruit world class wrestlers we at ISU will continue to SUCK in Wrestling.
I watched the ASU meet last nite and I thought that years ago under Nichols/ Gibbons/ Sanderson we would have blown arizona state right outta the building. We have guys wrestling for us now that in our good old days would never have been offered a spot on our wrestling team.
Until We at Ia State hire a great wrestling coach we will continue to be a second class program.
When ISU wrestling was at its peak, what kind of attendance did we see? I do not mean the Iowa dual, but against other B12 teams?
Womens basketball and volleyball have a much larger following nationwide than wrestling. I would even put wrestling below hockey as well. People in Iowa (especially Iowa fans) tend to drastically overestimate wrestling as a national sport.
And actually when you look at the number of collegiate wrestling programs from the last 30 years to now it is a dying sport at the collegiate level. There are lots of schools adding other sports but wrestling isn't one of those sports being added.
I'd say FB>mbb>wbb>baseball then slightly below that hockey, volleyball, and wrestling are pretty close...
I agree with you about women's basketball having a larger following, but definitely not volleyball. It just doesn't draw that many fans. Even when you have two highly ranked teams playing each other you can see on TV that there are very few fans in attendance.
As far as I can tell, there's only been one non-Iowa dual to draw over 10K at Hilton.
This is patently FALSE. Wrestling is actually *growning* at the collegiate level. The growth isn't among the big schools but at the DII/DIII and NAIA level.
Hi! This is Earth. We're talking about wrestling.
Guys, I'm not saying we have to match their number. I'm talking about a big number, though. And certainly the excitement and intensity.
Gable created a great following for Iowa wrestling. That has not died. Iowa has an exciting style of wrestling to watch. They also have pretty much dominated the sport the last 30 years. I sucks to say but I would rather watch Iowa wrestle than ISU.
So volleyball games with 4-10,000 in attendance isn't well attended? Outside of a few wrestling programs very few get over 1500 in attendance. One thing to remember is that just about every school has a volleyball team so I would guess the overall attendance of volleyball is much larger than wrestling. The top 20 avg attendance in wrestling and volleyball look almost identical stats wise.
Wrestling
1. Iowa 9,014
2. Penn State 6,480
3. Ohio State 3,126
4. Iowa State 3,087
5. Minnesota 3,024
6. Oklahoma State 2,564
7. Lehigh 2,141
8. Cornell 1,981
9. Nebraska 1,620
10. Navy 1,595
Volleyball
| 1 | Hawaii | 126,827 | 19 | 6,675 |
| 2 | Nebraska | 77,164 | 18 | 4,287 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 53,050 | 16 | 3,316 |
| 4 | Penn St. | 55,783 | 17 | 3,281 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 42,278 | 13 | 3,252 |
| 6 | UNI | 33,015 | 11 | 3,001 |
| 7 | Wichita St. | 34,792 | 12 | 2,899 |
| 8 | Purdue | 48,566 | 17 | 2,857 |
| 9 | Illinois | 33,713 | 12 | 2,809 |
| 10 | Texas | 52,850 | 20 | 2,643 |
| 11 | Iowa St. | 37,981 | 15 | 2,532 |
We as Iowans view wrestling in high regards, I get that. But go else where in the US and the view is different. The south will tell you that softball, track and field, mens and womens soccer is much more important than wrestling. The west coast will tell you softball, soccer, swimming, etc. is more important than wrestling. Heck even as wrestling rich the NE is they may tell you that Lacrosse is more important than wrestling.
The "wrestling is a dying sport" debate has been hashed out (and debunked) many times on here and don't feel like getting into it again.
You claim volleyball has a much larger national following yet the highest attendance figure was 6,600 (Hawaii who was also the only school above 5,000) and even at a school like PSU that has a great volleyball program the wrestling program doubles the attendance of the volleyball program.
ISU averaged just above 2,500 fans for volleyball which was a top ten figure. Even as down as the ISU wrestling program is they average more than that.
My point was that wrestling, like hockey or women's basketball are alike in that they have huge followings at certain schools, and are irrelevent at others.
