JB on PSU fans disrespect.

[MSU158]

No one is disputing that PA has outstanding talent. Best in the country. That plus great clubs and parent support. Yet your state tourney at the Giant center at just over 10,000 has a ton of open seats during the prelims and semis every year. I was kind of amazed when I started watching them on Flo. Even when the Olympic Trials were at PSU, the first freestyle session looked like Iowa vs Purdue on a Sunday morning and there were some great matches with a ton of PA/PSU connections.

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I don't know how it is in PA but I remember when a kid made it to state from the town I lived in, half the high school kids would go watch them down in Des Moines. I have been to the past few state tourneys and that place is packed even when its just one class going. We've got knowledgeable fans on here that I know never wrestled a day in their life and don't have kids in the sport. One of them started https://www.wrestlestat.com/

Is all that a correlation to knowledgeable fans? I dunno. But I do think folks like a winner. Like most of our niche sports, the juice is in the college part of it and I think many might not understand that the Worlds and Olympics are the pinnacle for the wrestler but maybe not the fan.

Do you think not having a true professional team in any sport cultivates this quite a bit? I would think sports fans would then gravitate to college and even high school sports. As a result, they would almost certainly "connect" better with the athletes and inevitably learn more about the sports they follow. In sort of a "trickle down" fashion, sports that are considered "fringe" in many other areas, actually end up being one of the top for the area to watch, especially when the product is high end.

Make sense? Having lived there, do you think that is a direct factor, or just a coincidence?

 

[Trapper85]

Do you think not having a true professional team in any sport cultivates this quite a bit? I would think sports fans would then gravitate to college and even high school sports. As a result, they would almost certainly "connect" better with the athletes and inevitably learn more about the sports they follow. In sort of a "trickle down" fashion, sports that are considered "fringe" in many other areas, actually end up being one of the top for the area to watch, especially when the product is high end.

Make sense? Having lived there, do you think that is a direct factor, or just a coincidence?

Can't speak for others, but IMO, that may contribute but is not a big factor. I still had my favorite pro teams and watched/followed them closely. I just think Iowa as a state had alot of early success in wrestling (maybe random reasons?), that drew attention, local media covered it alot, including IPTV, and it became a part of the culture. Just like hockey in MN. It is also kind of a 'blue collar' sport that may have had more appeal to folks in a rural state like Iowa. Stating that one differently, I think there is a connection between wrestling knowledge and the frequency with which you needed to chase down an escaped lamb or piglet, or corral a nuisance 'possum or raccoon. 🙂

 

[MSU158]

Can't speak for others, but IMO, that may contribute but is not a big factor. I still had my favorite pro teams and watched/followed them closely. I just think Iowa as a state had alot of early success in wrestling (maybe random reasons?), that drew attention, local media covered it alot, including IPTV, and it became a part of the culture. Just like hockey in MN. It is also kind of a 'blue collar' sport that may have had more appeal to folks in a rural state like Iowa. Stating that one differently, I think there is a connection between wrestling knowledge and the frequency with which you needed to chase down an escaped lamb or piglet, or corral a nuisance 'possum or raccoon. 🙂

The "blue collar" part makes sense. However, the Detroit area is also about as "blue collar" as it gets. Obviously, we don't have a local wrestling product close to what Iowa has accomplished, but I have a hard time seeing there being a large fanbase even if there were.

I was also thinking in the context of traveling and actually attending games/sporting events. If you live within an hour or so to Iowa or even ISU, how far would you have to travel to attend a professional sporting event? Even then, would they even be the team you root for? The Detroit connection was pretty much built into me, even though it has been pretty damn bad for quite some time, until the Lions finally woke up last year. Still, our professional sports still have received a TON of fan support, even when they have been bad.

I often wonder how that fan following would shift, without the local pro teams. It's genuinely interesting to me. The Hawkeye fanbase and the "Carver experience" is one of the most unique things I have seen in a "fringe" college sport. Even if PSU sustains their success for another decade or more, I simply don't see them matching either...

 

[IAChief32]

Do you think not having a true professional team in any sport cultivates this quite a bit? I would think sports fans would then gravitate to college and even high school sports. As a result, they would almost certainly "connect" better with the athletes and inevitably learn more about the sports they follow. In sort of a "trickle down" fashion, sports that are considered "fringe" in many other areas, actually end up being one of the top for the area to watch, especially when the product is high end.

Make sense? Having lived there, do you think that is a direct factor, or just a coincidence?

It does. Could be something there re pro sports. Even though the cities are relatively close in distance, I think there are a lot of factions. The irony for me is that I have been here since 2017 and have not been to a Chiefs game and they are only 4-5 hours away. We used to fly in from Az to see them. Now, I’d rather spend my $$ on wrestling; it’s cheaper to go to the NCAAs and watch over 3 days vs spending the same amount for 3 hours to go to KC.

High school and college sports are big here. Being a rural population, it’s cheap entertainment and you support your neighbor’s kids. I also know fans that live in NW Iowa, have season tickets and travel 5 hours to every Hawk home football game or dual (weather permitting). To put that in perspective, it’s only a little bit further to go from Iowa City to Lansing Michigan.

All that said, I do think there is a mystique about the state of Iowa and its relationship to wrestling…just a ton of casual fans who know the basics of the sport. It’s why at Carver, you hear the collective murmur of the crowd when a Hawk is about to do something big or really stupid. That said, I don’t know if that knowledge extends beyond Hawk wrestling matches because Ive heard many fans who think Iowa high school has the best wrestlers in the nation or that we should be beating PSU when on paper, the NCAA tourney is over before it even started.

 

[MSU158]

It does. Could be something there re pro sports. Even though the cities are relatively close in distance, I think there are a lot of factions. The irony for me is that I have been here since 2017 and have not been to a Chiefs game and they are only 4-5 hours away. We used to fly in from Az to see them. Now, I’d rather spend my $$ on wrestling; it’s cheaper to go to the NCAAs and watch over 3 days vs spending the same amount for 3 hours to go to KC.

High school and college sports are big here. Being a rural population, it’s cheap entertainment and you support your neighbor’s kids. I also know fans that live in NW Iowa, have season tickets and travel 5 hours to every Hawk home football game or dual (weather permitting). To put that in perspective, it’s only a little bit further to go from Iowa City to Lansing Michigan.

All that said, I do think there is a mystique about the state of Iowa and its relationship to wrestling…just a ton of casual fans who know the basics of the sport. It’s why at Carver, you hear the collective murmur of the crowd when a Hawk is about to do something big or really stupid. That said, I don’t know if that knowledge extends beyond Hawk wrestling matches because Ive heard many fans who think Iowa high school has the best wrestlers in the nation or that we should be beating PSU when on paper, the NCAA tourney is over before it even started.

Thanks, I appreciate the insight. Of course there would be many factors that come together to create such a unique fanbase for a sport that doesn't get much of a following outside that area...