Two major wrestling events — the Southern Scuffle and the Midlands Championships — both happen within days of each other. But which should Iowa attend?

By Jordan Hansen
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Iowa finished up competition at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Dec. 30 , and another major wrestling tournament — the Southern Scuffle — began on Jan. 1.

The Scuffle, which takes place this year in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will feature Penn State, Oklahoma State, and Cornell. Each is ranked in the top 5 of Flowrestling’s team tournament rankings.

At the Midlands, the only team that could make that claim was Iowa.

And it isn’t just this year, either. The level of competition at the Southern Scuffle has been better over the past few years because, in part, Penn State has made the trip each of the last four years.

Make no mistake, it’s a choice on the Hawkeyes’ part. Iowa has deeply rooted tradition in the Midlands, and despite the Scuffle having more elite competition, the Hawks have stuck with what they know, even though Iowa head coach Tom Brands is quite familiar with the event.

“I went to the [Southern Scuffle] when I was at Virginia Tech,” he said. “It’s a good tournament, and we could do that, but we’ll probably just continue to come to the Midlands. We like the tradition there. It’s a challenging tournament, and it’s four hours by bus.”

Make no mistake, the tradition argument is strong. Iowa has only missed the Midland’s Championships twice since 1974 and has won the event 25 of the 53 times it’s been held.

The Hawkeyes own the record for most points scored — 189 — which they set last year. Going further, eight former Iowa wrestlers and coaches are in the Midlands Championships Hall of Fame.

Point being, there’s quite a bit of Iowa wrestling history rolled up with the Midlands Championships, and it’s reflected in the program itself. The Hawkeye wrestlers all talk about the tradition of the event when asked about it. Some even remember going to the event when they were in high school.

With the vast majority of Iowa’s wrestlers being from the Midwest, it’s also an opportunity for them to compete in front of their families.

All of those are good reasons, of course, but if there is better competition out there, it’s a little surprising that Iowa isn’t trying to beat it.

There are reasons other than simply tradition to stick with the Midlands. Brands hinted about that with his comment about the four-hour bus trip. The Scuffle would be a longer trip and likely more costly to attend.

The Iowa wrestling program doesn’t seem as though it’s strapped for cash, but every program has its limits. With the NCAA Championships in New York City this season, it might have been hard to get the funding for another trip.

So, fine, perhaps sticking with the Midlands is a good option.

However, while the tournament field is decent, it does need an upgrade. One of the other major draws of the Midlands is that it’s an open tournament and former wrestlers such as David Taylor can come back and compete.

It needs more of that and another consistently good team to come and make regular appearances for the Midlands to really be on par with the Scuffle.

Follow @JordyHansen for Iowa wrestling news, updates, and analysis.