Carver-Hawkeye Arena atmosphere gets rave reviews from EVERYBODY!

[Franisdaman]

Here are some of the quotes:

Kyle Dake: “I just wanted to put on a show for them (the fans),” Dake said. “This is the best atmosphere in the world. These fans are insane. They love the sport of wrestling. As a competitor, I love wrestling here. This is a crazy atmosphere. It’s packed to the gills, and hopefully the next time we have it here, there will be even more people. The crowd is crazy. They’re great for the sport.”

“It’s awesome,” said Thomas Gilman, a former Iowa star and the U.S. starter at 57 kilos (125.5 pounds). “There’s no better place to have it in the world. This first round — it’s not packed, but there’s a lot of people out there. I’ve never seen it like that for the World Cup.."

“It’s awesome,” said J’den Cox, the U.S. starter at 92 kilos (202.5 pounds). “They love great wrestling. They’re going to be great fans. I’ve wrestled here two times before, and every time you come to Carver-Hawkeye, it’s wrestling nation. It’s awesome. You’re going to be loved — except for when you wrestle against Iowa. Otherwise, if you’re on Team USA, they just love to watch you wrestle.”

“They have great fans here. We all know that,” said David Taylor, who went 4-0 this weekend at 86 kilos (189 pounds) and won two NCAA titles at Penn State. “In the past, we got booed coming through here, but to have the opportunity to wrestle for the United States, and in front of those great fans, it’s great."

Yuki Takahashi, the defending world champion at 57 kilograms, gave a thumbs up to the crowd after his win over Cuba’s Reineri Andreu Ortega in the third-place dual, and ultimately gave one of his Team Japan shirts to a young fan rooting for them.

“Iowa City — this is almost like a UFC fight because it’s a grand stage and there’s such a great atmosphere,” Takahashi said through an interpreter. “I’m just so grateful to be here.”

Gary Abbott, the communications director for USA Wrestling, packed up his bags and headed toward the exit.

He stopped to thank a worker and smiled.

“This was a lot of fun,” Abbott said. “It’s nice to have these things at places that love wrestling.”

The full story: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...sphere-gets-rave-reviews-everybody/500095002/

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[GG121AND2]

I've been to a lot of wrestling events in the last 40 years and this weekend may be my all time favorite. The wrestling was exciting and the atmosphere was astonishing.

 

[Franisdaman]

I've been to a lot of wrestling events in the last 40 years and this weekend may be my all time favorite. The wrestling was exciting and the atmosphere was astonishing.

I think Gable's Garden was a cool "outside the box" thing

Anything else stand out as "wow, what a cool idea!" when you were walking outside and inside CHA?

And with under 7,000 people, CHA appeared to get get pretty loud. Is that an accurate statement? If so, I get tired of people saying how quiet CHA is; it can be loud if the people there are loud, imo.

 

[4409]

I'll say one thing, it seemed pretty weird seeing people walking around the CHA concourse and sitting in the seats, drinking beer.

 

[vhsalum]

All international events should be held at Carver.

 

[natchrlman]

I have to admit I was kind of disappointed at the crowd size and loudness....it was less than a typical good dual crowd against a decent opponent... but compared to other international events I guess it must of been impressive judging by the reactions of the wrestlers.... it was an awesome event and I hope they have many more there

 

[merr6267]

I really regret that I didn't make the trip this weekend, though my life is probably better because of that.

 

[wamachie]

Hawkeye nation did not disappoint and did not discriminate. They rooted for each member of the USA delegation as if they were wearing the black a & gold. It was great to witness the patriotic cheering for Team USA!

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

I've been to a lot of wrestling events in the last 40 years and this weekend may be my all time favorite. The wrestling was exciting and the atmosphere was astonishing.

I agree. It was absolutely one of my favorite wrestling events ever. 7-8k people looks pretty good, and get pretty loud, in Carver. My kids loved it too, and loved the Gable Garden idea. Kind of felt like a mini-Melrose on Kinnick game days.