Regents approve request to name UI wrestling facility after donors
The wrestling facility will be named in honor of the Goschke family, who donated $7 million toward the building.
Iowa head coach Tom Brands reacts during Iowa’s No. 5 Austin DeSanto’s match session two at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich., on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
November 10, 2022
The state Board of Regents approved the name for the University of Iowa Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center on Thursday.
The facility will be named for Doug and Ann Goschke, two philanthropists who have supported the UI Department of Intercollegiate Athletics since March 2019.
The Goschkes first gift to the UI was a $1 million donation to the Kinnick Edge Campaign. They recently made a gift commitment of $7 million to the Carver Circle Campaign, which was created to fund the construction of the new wrestling facility.
Regent David Barker said the Goschke’s gift, along with gifts from other donors, allowed the university to privately fund the entire project, proceed to public bidding, and break ground in the summer of 2022. The project is expected to be completed in 2024.
“We all are very grateful to the Goschke family and all the other donors that have been passionate and giving [to] this project. To be able to construct a facility like this solely with donor financing is just amazing,” Barker said.
The new facility neighbors the Carver-Hawkeye Arena and will cover 38,500 square feet while housing both the UI’s men’s and women’s wrestling teams.
The space will have a 13,000-square-foot wrestling room, a strength training area, team locker rooms, and athletic training facilities. It will also include staff offices, a student-athlete lounge, recruiting meeting rooms, and a street-level “hall of champions.”
Rod Lehnertz, UI senior vice president for finance and operations, said the facility is much needed.
“We have sold out every single match this year for the entire season for our wrestling team,” he said. “They are ranked number two, and this Sunday we begin with [California Baptist University] as our first victim, so we look forward to the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling season.”
