World Cup weekend

[WWGD]

My son and I made a trip up to Gods country (from Athens, Ga) this weekend for the World Cup and to say that we had a great time would be a huge understatement. As wrestling fans it was great to see and experience the love and passion that Iowans have for the sport. It was amazing to walk around the Mecca of wrestling (aka Carver-Hawkeye Arena) where so many legends, not to mention personal heroes of ours, have competed. My son and I were able to meet Gable (who was way more awesome than I ever could have imagined), Tom and Terry, Metcalf, Mike Zadick, Bill Zadick, McDonough, Gilman, JB (which was the absolute highlight of my sons trip)…there are many more that I can’t recall at the moment. Every single wrestler and/or coach we met was a class act and took the time out to get to know us and talk wrestling. As we were talking to Bill Zadick at the after party we told him we drove 14 hours for the World Cup and he went out of his way to introduce us to other guys from USA wrestling and insisted we get a picture with the trophy. Un-freaking-believable.

What an incredible weekend. We’ll definitely be back.

 

[Coach Mac B]

That's a great story and some dedication to drive that far. Glad you had a good time.

 

[Neo_Hawk]

My son and I made a trip up to Gods country (from Athens, Ga) this weekend for the World Cup and to say that we had a great time would be a huge understatement. As wrestling fans it was great to see and experience the love and passion that Iowans have for the sport. It was amazing to walk around the Mecca of wrestling (aka Carver-Hawkeye Arena) where so many legends, not to mention personal heroes of ours, have competed. My son and I were able to meet Gable (who was way more awesome than I ever could have imagined), Tom and Terry, Metcalf, Mike Zadick, Bill Zadick, McDonough, Gilman, JB (which was the absolute highlight of my sons trip)…there are many more that I can’t recall at the moment. Every single wrestler and/or coach we met was a class act and took the time out to get to know us and talk wrestling. As we were talking to Bill Zadick at the after party we told him we drove 14 hours for the World Cup and he went out of his way to introduce us to other guys from USA wrestling and insisted we get a picture with the trophy. Un-freaking-believable.

What an incredible weekend. We’ll definitely be back.

Wow, what a great story! It's stuff like this that set wrestlers apart from many other athletes. Congrats on such an awesome trip.

 

[Old_wrestling_fan]

Wow, what a great story! It's stuff like this that set wrestlers apart from many other athletes. Congrats on such an awesome trip.

That's a good point! ^^ FWIW, my two sons were also in attendance and one of them texted me a picture of them and Spencer Lee. They were pretty darn excited to get their pic with Superman Lee and they really enjoyed their brief conversation with him. Good stuff!

 

[pablow]

That's why I'm a wrestling fan. Wrestling, hands down, has the finest athletes, coaches, and fans of any sport on the planet.
Try that at a NFL or NBA game.

 

[wasdt21]

i would not expect anything less, am glad you had an experience your son will never forget and you were a big part of it well done dad.

 

[JohnBasedow]

Awesome stories. Thanks for posting!

 

[CCAHawkeye]

I brought one son on Saturday and my other son on Sunday. It was our first time in Carver for anything. What a great experience. The international competition with the best in the world only two hours from home was too good to pass up. It was much more than I expected. The school district we live in does not offer wrestling. My boys are active in all other sports but this was their first exposure to wrestling. They are sold on it now as well. It was well worth the time and highly recommended for anyone sitting at home wondering if they should go or not.

 

[minnhawkeye]

Awesome story. Job well done dad and I'm sure one that son will never forget..

 

[woodsiding]

That was a really fun, unique wrestling weekend! First and foremost the wrestlers put on a great show. The atmosphere was incredible, the music going, the huge names in American wrestling walking around that place as a fan. I got a kick out of Kazikstan's wrestling team walking around in their warmups and Iowa Hawkeye stocking caps all weekend. At one point we were walking back to our seats and we casually said good job to three wrestlers from Japan. They immediately started asking us a bunch of questions. But all you make out was "... Spenca Lee ...?" Turns out he, his dad, and Desanto were sitting a section over from us, I pointed to him and the three of them just stood and stared completely star struck! Another time on the concourse a kid, maybe 5 years old, gave Desanto an ice cream cone and said I hope you come to iowa. He said thanks and handed the cone to Spencer who was more than happy to take it.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

My son and I made a trip up to Gods country (from Athens, Ga) this weekend for the World Cup and to say that we had a great time would be a huge understatement. As wrestling fans it was great to see and experience the love and passion that Iowans have for the sport. It was amazing to walk around the Mecca of wrestling (aka Carver-Hawkeye Arena) where so many legends, not to mention personal heroes of ours, have competed. My son and I were able to meet Gable (who was way more awesome than I ever could have imagined), Tom and Terry, Metcalf, Mike Zadick, Bill Zadick, McDonough, Gilman, JB (which was the absolute highlight of my sons trip)…there are many more that I can’t recall at the moment. Every single wrestler and/or coach we met was a class act and took the time out to get to know us and talk wrestling. As we were talking to Bill Zadick at the after party we told him we drove 14 hours for the World Cup and he went out of his way to introduce us to other guys from USA wrestling and insisted we get a picture with the trophy. Un-freaking-believable.

What an incredible weekend. We’ll definitely be back.

That's what it's all about. If you liked that, you'd love the HWC banquet. Maybe drive back up to Des Moines for that this Saturday?

Seriously, though, great to hear. Happy for you and your son. Neither of you will ever forget it, I'm sure.

 

[WWDMHawkeye]

I brought one son on Saturday and my other son on Sunday. It was our first time in Carver for anything. What a great experience. The international competition with the best in the world only two hours from home was too good to pass up. It was much more than I expected. The school district we live in does not offer wrestling. My boys are active in all other sports but this was their first exposure to wrestling. They are sold on it now as well. It was well worth the time and highly recommended for anyone sitting at home wondering if they should go or not.

Love it, Dad! Strong work! You can't put a value on those father-son moments (or father-daughter, or any other permutation thereof).

I agree completely about your last comment -- I think a lot of folks missed out because there wasn't a clear enough understanding of exactly what the World Cup is. We get 8,000 at an average Iowa home meet without batting an eye; there's no good reason why the place shouldn't have been packed to the rafters all weekend. Was still a great atmosphere, because the Carver crowd is still pretty deafening even with the house about 1/2 full, but if/when we host it again, we need to do a better job of getting the word out and making sure people understand exactly the kind of gem of an event that's coming to Carver. It needs to be full next time, and I sure hope there's a "next time".

 

[Wendy79]

...if/when we host it again, we need to do a better job of getting the word out and making sure people understand exactly the kind of gem of an event that's coming to Carver. It needs to be full next time, and I sure hope there's a "next time".

Agreed. I don't know that I saw much about it in the news in the week leading up to Saturday, and I'm not sure I would have known about it if I wasn't a member here and didn't follow a few particular accounts on Facebook/Twitter.

There was also a lack of information on the event's website. I checked that multiple times a week and then the week before I was ridiculously busy between work and school and didn't get a chance to check it. Apparently at some point last week, it was updated with the clear bag policy and some other info (still no specific info regarding Garden vendors, which I think would have been nice...and having one vendor run out of meat and another serve lukewarm food was disappointing). Nothing at all in the envelope the tickets came in.

BUT. I had a lot of fun, got to see some friends, eat a Carver cone, see some great wrestling, and enthrall our bartenders Saturday night with a heated discussion about were-creatures, so the good far outweighed the not-quite-as-good.