My daughter bought me two tickets for the Iowa match as a Christmas gift. We both were excited. In the weeks leading up to the match, I would quiz her on Penn State wrestlers and wrestling facts. She did rather well.
On Wednesday, I left my home in Portsmouth, Ohio to join her in Dayton, Ohio where she and her husband live. We left Thursday morning from her place. Traveled through Indiana and Illinois to Iowa City. A nice uneventful drive. We arrived mid to late afternoon and got checked into our hotel. We then walked to Carver-Hawkeye Arena from the hotel, just a short 15-minute walk. We found the Dan Gable statue and took pictures. I wanted to put my Penn State hat on his head but thought it might not be a good look for me climbing up the back of the statue but it did cross my mind.
Friday morning we did some hiking in the Coralville Lake region. Beautiful! We hiked about 3 hours and five miles. We explored the Devonian Fossil Gorge and found numerous fossils. We watched three eagles perched in a tree by the river. We also found the nest on the river trail. It was huge and impressive (even Mike would agree). We returned to the hotel so my daughter could get her game face on for the match. We had dinner at Jethro’s BBQ. It was very good and I would recommend it. We got to the arena just a little before doors opened and had a great chat with a few Hawkeye fans. My daughter had purchased us tickets just seven rows behind the Penn State bench!! They view was awesome! While waiting at our seats we met up with 86PSUPaul. Great exchange with Paul! I had good conversations with the Hawkeye fan sitting to my immediate right. Unfortunately, he had not had good previous experiences sitting next to Penn State fans at other venues. It was my goal to change that! After the match, he said he had a better experience.
Carver-Hawkeye was certainly electric! The fan base is very passionate about wrestling! The eruption of the fans after Ayala and Rathjen won their bouts was deafening. However, the silence after the Barlett and Messenbrink bouts was beautiful. The fan noise at Carver is far better than Rec Hall…they get involved. I feel that sometimes there is more chatter at the calling hours of a funeral than noise at Rec Hall. I quickly noticed their go-to call…..he’s stalling…top, bottom, and neutral they didn’t discriminate…like voting it was early and often. During the match, I turned my daughter's attention to the Brand’s brothers bouncing around…she got a great chuckle watching them. After, the match we stayed to talk and get a picture with Shane Sparks….super friendly! And we found Jeff Byers to talk to.
P.S. After the Brooks match, Aaron came to the bench and seemed rather frustrated…I assumed for the lack of engagement. People wrestle him not to get bonused. Overall, Carver-Hawkeye, the people, and the wrestling was great!! Thank you, Iowa City!!
Saturday, we spent the day at Amana Colonies. We had fun, great food, and libations. And I got to meet Bosox by happenstance. We talked about wrestling for a while.
I would visit Iowa City in the future!
On Wednesday, I left my home in Portsmouth, Ohio to join her in Dayton, Ohio where she and her husband live. We left Thursday morning from her place. Traveled through Indiana and Illinois to Iowa City. A nice uneventful drive. We arrived mid to late afternoon and got checked into our hotel. We then walked to Carver-Hawkeye Arena from the hotel, just a short 15-minute walk. We found the Dan Gable statue and took pictures. I wanted to put my Penn State hat on his head but thought it might not be a good look for me climbing up the back of the statue but it did cross my mind.
Friday morning we did some hiking in the Coralville Lake region. Beautiful! We hiked about 3 hours and five miles. We explored the Devonian Fossil Gorge and found numerous fossils. We watched three eagles perched in a tree by the river. We also found the nest on the river trail. It was huge and impressive (even Mike would agree). We returned to the hotel so my daughter could get her game face on for the match. We had dinner at Jethro’s BBQ. It was very good and I would recommend it. We got to the arena just a little before doors opened and had a great chat with a few Hawkeye fans. My daughter had purchased us tickets just seven rows behind the Penn State bench!! They view was awesome! While waiting at our seats we met up with 86PSUPaul. Great exchange with Paul! I had good conversations with the Hawkeye fan sitting to my immediate right. Unfortunately, he had not had good previous experiences sitting next to Penn State fans at other venues. It was my goal to change that! After the match, he said he had a better experience.
Carver-Hawkeye was certainly electric! The fan base is very passionate about wrestling! The eruption of the fans after Ayala and Rathjen won their bouts was deafening. However, the silence after the Barlett and Messenbrink bouts was beautiful. The fan noise at Carver is far better than Rec Hall…they get involved. I feel that sometimes there is more chatter at the calling hours of a funeral than noise at Rec Hall. I quickly noticed their go-to call…..he’s stalling…top, bottom, and neutral they didn’t discriminate…like voting it was early and often. During the match, I turned my daughter's attention to the Brand’s brothers bouncing around…she got a great chuckle watching them. After, the match we stayed to talk and get a picture with Shane Sparks….super friendly! And we found Jeff Byers to talk to.
P.S. After the Brooks match, Aaron came to the bench and seemed rather frustrated…I assumed for the lack of engagement. People wrestle him not to get bonused. Overall, Carver-Hawkeye, the people, and the wrestling was great!! Thank you, Iowa City!!
Saturday, we spent the day at Amana Colonies. We had fun, great food, and libations. And I got to meet Bosox by happenstance. We talked about wrestling for a while.
I would visit Iowa City in the future!
