Host site finalists for 2015-2018 Championships...

[SetonHallPirate 804]

Division I:

 

Cleveland, OH: Quicken Loans Arena (Mid-American Conference/Greater Cleveland Sports Commission)

Kansas City, MO: Sprint Center (Missouri/KC Sports Commission)

Louisville, KY: KFC Yum! Center (Louisville/Louisville Sports Commission)

New York City, NY: Madison Square Garden (Hofstra)

Oklahoma City, OK: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma State/Oklahoma City All Sports Association)

Pittsburgh, PA: CONSOL Energy Center (West Virginia)

Philadelphia, PA: Wells Fargo Center (Rider/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

St. Louis, MO: Scottrade Center (Missouri/St. Louis Sports Commission)

 

Further links: http://awn.theopenmat.com/2013/10/host- ... r-2014-18/

[LAWRENCE 1]

It would be great to have NYC host one year. the Grapple at the Garden is a huge success.

 

A city with great food and lots of top entertainment musuems etc.

[gg121and2 0]

Again - to the so-called "College Wrestling" forum, nothing but Division I seems to matter. The Division III Championships deserve to be in Cedar Rapids where they get the best support PERIOD. (And if DII was smart they would consider moving here, too - again).

[SetonHallPirate 804]

Again - to the so-called "College Wrestling" forum, nothing but Division I seems to matter. The Division III Championships deserve to be in Cedar Rapids where they get the best support PERIOD. (And if DII was smart they would consider moving here, too - again).

That's why I linked to the full article. My hands simply couldn't type for long enough for the entire hosting sites list.

[grapplefan 2]

Those are some very interesting sites for Div II and Div III. Ultimately, as GG knows, these tourneys mean money for the cities involved. I would hope that the NCAA would put these tourneys where there is a real host school and real wrestling fans. Who is the host school for Louisville KY, or for Birmingham, AL?

GG, don't you think that Div II would get some support at Young Arena in Waterloo? I think that it would.

[JasonBryant 1,653]

Jim,

I'd really like to see what it could do in Hershey (D3). This the amount of Division III programs within easy driving distance and no high school events slated to be the weekend E-Town is bidding, they could do it right there too.

 

CR is tops for sure. Lax was a ton of fun. I wouldn't mind a little mix now and again. Plus, the whole town smells like chocolate!

[JoeShumate 0]

Very disappointed that Atlanta is not on the D1 list. Can't believe it, actually.

[RoarLions 0]

The Pittsburgh host school is West Virginia U...how's that work?

[gg121and2 0]

Jim,

I'd really like to see what it could do in Hershey (D3). This the amount of Division III programs within easy driving distance and no high school events slated to be the weekend E-Town is bidding, they could do it right there too.

 

CR is tops for sure. Lax was a ton of fun. I wouldn't mind a little mix now and again. Plus, the whole town smells like chocolate!

 

My brain tells me that other sites are good for the sport, but - damn - I LOVE having DIII's here - and on Thursdays we smell like Cap'n Crunch.

 

The bottom line is we MUST step up and support championships in all divisions. The Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Topeka has risen to the challenge and is supporting Wrestling For Life ticket efforts for the NAIA Championships - and Grap - we could get huge support in Waterloo. Chuck Yagla, Mike Allen, Bob Buckley and the Gable Museum could provide the leadership that is needed to make the DII Championships soar. Leaders must arise where most needed. We just can't focus solely on the DI Championships if we want the sport to really grow.

[ocho 0]

If NYC is chosen i hope it isn't for 2015 so people have more time to save up for the expensive trip.

[Ryan 2]

It would be great to have NYC host one year. the Grapple at the Garden is a huge success.

 

A city with great food and lots of top entertainment musuems etc.

 

And impossibly high priced lodging. I would give them at best a 5% chance.

[SetonHallPirate 804]

The Pittsburgh host school is West Virginia U...how's that work?

The same way Rider hosted in Philadelphia a couple of years back.

[Billyhoyle 1,987]

 

The bottom line is we MUST step up and support championships in all divisions. The Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Topeka has risen to the challenge and is supporting Wrestling For Life ticket efforts for the NAIA Championships - and Grap - we could get huge support in Waterloo.

 

 

I don't really agree with you on this point. The lower divisions are excellent events to show kids a higher level of college wrestling/motivate them to work at wrestling so they can pursue it in college (so yes, the wrestling for life program is awesome and very important). However, I don't think having a wildly popular D3/D2 is necessary for the survival of the sport on these levels. If you look at the "money" sports, football/basketball, the division 2 and division 3 championships aren't very popular or well publicized. I think much more important is coaches having a strong outreach program to their alumni and local community, and directly funding the program in this way. Of course, these lower level championships would be more fun if the stands were packed and choosing a location where this is most likely to happen is definitely the best option, but the bottom line is that the long term growth of wrestling depends on D1.

[HashTag WRESTLING 0]

Division I:

 

Cleveland, OH: Quicken Loans Arena (Mid-American Conference/Greater Cleveland Sports Commission)

Kansas City, MO: Sprint Center (Missouri/KC Sports Commission)

Louisville, KY: KFC Yum! Center (Louisville/Louisville Sports Commission)

New York City, NY: Madison Square Garden (Hofstra)

Oklahoma City, OK: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma State/Oklahoma City All Sports Association)

Pittsburgh, PA: CONSOL Energy Center (West Virginia)

Philadelphia, PA: Wells Fargo Center (Rider/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

St. Louis, MO: Scottrade Center (Missouri/St. Louis Sports Commission)

 

Further links: http://awn.theopenmat.com/2013/10/host- ... r-2014-18/

 

 

#EAST COAST!!!

[JohnnyThompsonnum1 97]

Louisville, KY: KFC Yum! Center (Louisville/Louisville Sports Commission

 

Can someone elaborate on this for me please? Because a part of me wants to be excited about what this could potentially mean, but with no one else seeming to be it leaves me in wonder. What's the deal here?

[Pinnum 793]

Louisville, KY: KFC Yum! Center (Louisville/Louisville Sports Commission

 

Can someone elaborate on this for me please? Because a part of me wants to be excited about what this could potentially mean, but with no one else seeming to be it leaves me in wonder. What's the deal here?

 

There has been discussion of Louisville adding sports to align more with the ACC Championship Sports. While wrestling is a possibility, I wouldn't read too much into it.

 

As with RoarLion's question, any member school can host a championship, they do not need to sponsor the sport to host the championship. Additionally, the school does not have to host the championship in any specific area or local to their campus. Most notably when Rider hosted the NCAAs in Albany and the MAAC Conference sponsoring the Philly NCAAs despite not sponsoring wrestling as a championship sport.

 

In the West Virginia case, Global Spectrum and the Pittsburgh Sports Commission most likely were looking for profitable events to bring to the venue and wanted to bid on wrestling. They likely approached Pitt and Pitt declined to want to host so they reached out to West Virginia.

 

When a school hosts they are responsible for the event (though they do get a cut of revenue depending on their bid proposal). So there is a risk-reward involved and some want to take it on and others don't.

 

 

I am particularly interested in the Hershey bid. I think that is a great bid and could be solid for East Coast D3 Wrestling.

[Jaroslav Hasek 1,865]

Hershey is an awesome place to host a tourney. my cousins live there. they have all sorts of high school's events there. theres a decent airport to service nearby harrisburg and hershey has all of the attractions you could want to make an extended family vacay. plus theres lots of cheap lodging. i vote for hersehy! (but who's counting?).

 

D1 bids are all interesting. pluses and minuses all around. as much as i love visiting, i dont think NYC makes all that much sense, not for a multi day event like this. i actually think Newark or the Meadowlands are a better idea. Philly would be nice because then i could drive there.

[silver-medal 670]

Kudos to David Gilbert, chair of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, for pushing to make Cleveland a destination for the NCAA championships. Gilbert understands the economic impact of the championships and does a great job of working hard to bring events to NE Ohio. Quicken Loans arena is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers and can seat nearly 20000. There would be no issues with getting tickets. (Plus Lebron will be back by then).

[Pinnum 793]

I enjoy NYC and it would be an easy trip, for me.

 

With that said, I actually don't care for it as a host site.

 

Every NCAAs I have ever been to have been all wrestling with only time for meals between. I want a location with inexpensive, but quality, hotels and places to get food all near the arena. Easy of flights is a significant plus.

 

I am not going to have time to take in all that NYC, Philly, Boston, LA, etc have to offer, during my time at the NCAAs. I don't think NYC offers as much of a benefit as some people give it credit for.

 

I was in the pro Atlanta camp.

[legendofandy 37]

Hershey makes more sense in terms of the geographic distribution of the schools, so it may be more economical for the NCAA to host DIII there. Schools within 500 miles are supposed to drive to the tournament and over that they fly. A ton of teams are not within driving distance of Cedar Rapids, and flights into Cedar Rapids are preposterously expensive, especially given the short notice required for an NCAA tournament. For that reason, many end up flying into other airports and driving quite a ways. While this might still be the case for Harrisburg/Hershey as well, there are more teams that can drive.The entire East, Northeast and Mideast regions are driving distance to Hershey (and almost all are not driving distance to Cedar Rapids). That's 53 teams definitely within driving distance as opposed to something like 35 for Cedar Rapids.

 

All that said, speaking just from a geography standpoint, Cleveland probably makes the most sense. It's almost directly in the center of the DIII wrestling map and has a decently sized airport. Cedar Rapids and La Crosse put on a good tournament, but the tournament has either been in Iowa or Wisconsin every year since 2007. It's time to bring the tournament back east where most of the teams are.

[TritonCollegeWrstlng 0]

Again - to the so-called "College Wrestling" forum, nothing but Division I seems to matter. The Division III Championships deserve to be in Cedar Rapids where they get the best support PERIOD. (And if DII was smart they would consider moving here, too - again).

 

Please do not forget about the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) teams. Our national championship tournament was in Des Moines last year. Though we were at the fair grounds (a pretty nice venue, honestly) and not the Wells Fargo Arena, we seem to always take a back seat to everyone else.

 

In terms of economics, we're in Spokane, Washington this year, much like 2011. I don't know that this makes the most sense for NJCAA wrestling schools geographically, but North Idaho is always a great and gracious host, so off we go February 27-March 1!

[JJH 0]

Division I:

 

Cleveland, OH: Quicken Loans Arena (Mid-American Conference/Greater Cleveland Sports Commission)

Kansas City, MO: Sprint Center (Missouri/KC Sports Commission)

Louisville, KY: KFC Yum! Center (Louisville/Louisville Sports Commission)

New York City, NY: Madison Square Garden (Hofstra)

Oklahoma City, OK: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma State/Oklahoma City All Sports Association)

Pittsburgh, PA: CONSOL Energy Center (West Virginia)

Philadelphia, PA: Wells Fargo Center (Rider/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)

St. Louis, MO: Scottrade Center (Missouri/St. Louis Sports Commission)

 

*** Don't like Cleveland. Can't get there from here (Central NJ)

Kansas City OK, but not my favorite.

Louisville not near a hotbed of wrestling.

New York good for me, but the complaints about expensive hotels should be heeded.

Oklahoma is one of my favorite venues.

Pittsburgh would be a good choice

Philadelphia is #1 on my list. Had a great time there a few years ago.

St Louis is a popular site, and should probably get one of the slots.

JJH

[Frank_Rizzo 318]

Best Choices (of the finalists):

 

8. Louisville - Kentucky is not exactly a hotbed of wrestling

7. Kansas City - similar to Louisville but slightly easier to get a flight there

6. OK City - state has good wrestling, but even Bedlam fails to draw many fans these days

5. St. Louis - has proved itself to be a very capable host several times in the past 13 years

4. Cleveland - Ohio has great wrestling, so lets see if it can support the NCAA tournament

 

(Grand Canyon-sized gap)

 

3. Pittsburgh - 2nd biggest city in by far the best wrestling state would make for a great tournament

2. Philadelphia - hosted the best nationals ever in 2011

1. New York - center of the universe and a no-brainer

[EMANUELE316 1]

Had a great time in Philadelphia a few years ago. Can't wait to return for the 2015 NCAA Div I Championships.

[IronChef 712]

I don't think New York is a good choice. Where exactly are all the fans going to stay, and at what price? Go look at Hotels.com for a random day in the future. You won't find a hotel for less than $200 a night anywhere near the arena, and most are way more. I think if that happens, you'll have a lot of people staying in New Jersey and taking the train in, especially since MSG has literally no parking associated with it, and negotiating that trip may be a bit much for many wrestling fans who aren't used to public transportation.

 

If you have a place to stay in Manhattan, it would be a great experience, but I fear that is out of reach for almost all of the wrestling fanbase.