By Courtney Baumann
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Because wrestling Olympic Trials for Rio 2016 are set to take place in Carver-Hawkeye on April 9-10, U.S. women’s wrestling head coach Terry Steiner thought it would be a good idea to stop in for a week and practice at the Dan Gable Wrestling Complex.
This is the second time Steiner — who won a national title at Iowa in 1992 — has returned to Iowa City with the women’s team.
The four-time All-American said Iowa City holds a special place in his heart.
“It’s a special place for wrestling, and it means a lot to me, personally. I feel like I grew up here,” Steiner said. “There’s a standard of intensity, excellence, and purpose here.”
Friday night, before Iowa wrestles Purdue at home, a wrestle-off will be held for four weight classes to determine who will compete for the United States in the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament.
Each weight class — 53 kg, 58 kg, 63 kg, and 69 kg – will have a best-of-three series to determine who will represent the United States on March 10-11.
Hawkeyes back at home
Iowa has been on the road for more than a month, and the team is excited to finally be back in Carver-Hawkeye.
The Hawkeyes have traveled throughout the Midwest over winter break, seeing competition at the Midlands Tournament, Illinois, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.
No. 2 Iowa will face Purdue in its first home competition of 2016.
There have only been two Big Ten dual meets in Iowa City so far this season, and Maryland and Rutgers are the two teams that made the trip.
Junior Sammy Brooks said it will be nice to be in front of a home crowd once again.
“Duals at Carver are the best thing ever; you always want to have duals at home,” he said. “There’s just an aspect of comfort.”
Team gets day off
After competing against Purdue on Friday, Iowa will hop on a bus the next day to Lincoln to take on Nebraska on Jan. 24.
However, the quick turnaround is not something the Hawkeyes are worried about, and it is nothing they are not used to.
“It’s not ideal, but we’ve been doing it for a while, and we’re used to it,” Brooks said. “We’d like to wrestle here, then relax, then wrestle here, but there are things you have to do, so we’ll go there and be ready to wrestle.”
While the competition is in the near future, head coach Tom Brands is making sure the wrestlers are focused on what is directly ahead of them — meaning Purdue and only Purdue.
“When there’s an event on a date at a place, you have to be ready to go,” Brands said. “[Purdue is] the next opponent, and we know we have to be ready to go.”
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