Female Championship Wrestlers are Coming to Cedar Rapids
The Alliant Energy PowerHouse will be in charge of hosting the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships in the years 2023-2025. Wrestling is such a huge part of the state of Iowa, it only makes sense Cedar Rapids has a chance to host these championships. Alliant Energy PowerHouse is no stranger to hosting wrestling championships either. The building has hosted multiple wrestling championship events in years past, so this should be a pretty smooth operation.
The University of Iowa was the first Power Five school to add a women's wrestling program, according to NCAA News. There has been an incredible rise in woman's wrestling throughout the country, with the state of Iowa, leading the way.
The Cedar Rapids Tourism Office announced that these championships have the possibility to bring in close to $2 million, over three years for the city of Cedar Rapids, according to KCRG.
As of now, the championships are hosted by different wrestling organizations, on behalf of the NCAA, until women's wrestling achieves an official championship status within the NCAA, according to KCRG.
Michael Duffy is a College Athletic Director and the Chair of the NCWWC Committee and he believes Iowa is the perfect place to host these championships. He told KCRG
There is no better place than Iowa for wrestling, both for men and women. Cedar Rapids has hosted many NCAA Championships in men’s wrestling. This is a great venue and a great host community. Dick Simmons is one of the greatest promoters of wrestling anywhere. The championships got too big to host on campus, and we want to take it to a higher level.
You may even see some of these ladies make an appearance. These women have all signed on to wrestle at the University of Iowa. It seems like it always has...but the future of wrestling sure looks bright, in the state of Iowa.
The championships will include Division 1, 2, and 3 levels, according to KCRG. The first set of dates have been scheduled for March 3-4, 2023.