The U.S. Olympic Wrestling trials are still about a year away, but it’s never too early for fans of the sport to start planning.
Tickets for the event, which will take place in Iowa City on April 21-22, 2012, went on sale at 9 a.m. Monday.
While The Daily Iowan wasn’t able to obtain the exact number of tickets sold, numerous people announced via the trials’ Facebook page that they had reserved their seats within minutes of when they became available.
Barb Reynolds, a clinical technician at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, was even ahead of that curve. The North Liberty resident said she ordered her tickets in mid-April through the re-seating process instituted because of Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s ongoing $47 million renovation.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she wrote in an e-mail. “To be a part of something that big [is something] you could never replace … [Carver] will be rockin’.”
Reynolds and the rest of the wrestling patrons will be greeted by a bronze statue of legendary Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable, which will be unveiled in the plaza outside the arena’s main entrance next spring. The statue is meant to be a reminder of Iowa’s long history of excelling on the mat, a factor that U.S.A. Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender said played a large role in Iowa City landing the trials.
“It’s a wrestling state, it’s a wrestling city, it’s a wrestling school, and a wrestling facility — the spectator experience will be second to none,” he said in a video posted to the trials’ official website. “The athlete experience will be one of the best, maybe, in our history.”
Ticket packages
Tickets can be purchased in four packages, ranging in price from $40 for children under 18 to $175 for VIPs. The latter package includes “preferred seating, [a] parking pass, [an] official program, [a] limited edition Dan Gable bobblehead, [a] T-shirt, and access to a concierge lounge” for food and beverages, according to a release.
Iowa wrestling season-ticket holders for the 2011/12 season have the option of buying a special package that includes the bobblehead doll and a T-shirt reading “I wear with pride red, white, and blue, but I bleed black & gold.” The price for the combined package has not been announced.
Hotels
A majority of the hotels in eastern Iowa are offering special rates for the weekend of the trials. The discounts vary from a $20 reduction at hotelVetro, 201 S. Linn St., to the Marriott in Cedar Rapids, which knocked its prices for a room with two double beds or a king and a sofabed down by 35 and 37 percent, respectively.
