Wrestlers take over Dome this weekend
CEDAR FALLS – More than 1,500 wrestlers from coast to coast will fill the UNI-Dome this weekend as USA Wrestling’s Folkstyle Nationals make their second visit to the Cedar Valley.
Last year’s event here attracted approximately 1,600 entrants, and it appears this year’s turnout will be similar, according to tournament director Steve Knipp of Waterloo.
Wrestling will be contested in three age groups. The Midget Division is for 8- to 14-year olds, the Cadet Division is for wrestlers ages 15 and 16, and the Veterans Division will feature around 60 wrestlers age 30 or older.
Wrestlers will begin pouring into the area Friday with registration beginning Friday afternoon. Competition begins at 9 a.m. Saturday morning and continues until approximately 9 p.m.
Finals in some of the younger age groups are Saturday night with the rest set for Sunday, which begins with the Grand March of All-Americans at 8:30 a.m.
“It’s a neat thing, “said Knipp, the former head wrestling coach at East Waterloo High School. “With kids this age, you get parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters … the whole crew comes. They will fill up the stands, and they will spend a lot of money in the community.”
The event is one of the three largest youth tournaments in the country, rivaling the Junior Nationals and the Cadet Nationals. Some states require participants to qualify while others invite all USA Wrestling members to compete.
Knipp said around 150 Iowans will battle for national titles. That number would be larger, but the AAU state tournament is also this weekend and is drawing some wrestlers who might otherwise compete in the USA Nationals.
A handful of competitors will be shooting for USA “triple crown “honors. That requires a wrestler to win USA National titles in three wrestling disciplines – folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Admission to the event is $7 for adult one-day passes and $12 for two-day tickets. A one-day student admission is $5 and a two-day ticket is $8.
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