Tag: Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Iowa wrestling yet again posts staggering attendance numbers

Iowa fans and Hawkeye wrestling attendance numbers demonstrated once more what everybody already knew: This sport is special inside Carver.

Whatever you do, do not label wrestling as just another sport at the University of Iowa.

While football will always get the attention—it is by far the most popular sport in the country and the Hawkeyes tend to be quite good at it—the wrestling mat is the true symbol of the Hawkeye State.

From the high school level where we just saw future Hawkeyes dominate at the IHSAA State Wrestling Championships to the collegiate ranks with a combined 34 national championships within the state of Iowa (thank you for your contribution Cornell College), few states embody the spirit of wrestling like the Hawkeye State. I mean, the site of the first ever wrestling national championship was in the state of Iowa.

Wrestling isn’t the other sport coinciding with basketball in Iowa City as it is for other schools, it is the main attraction. It is the fire inside of Carver–Hawkeye Arena that keeps the fanbase going through the extremely cold Iowa winters.

The stats back up just how much Iowans love their wrestling, too. As reported by FloWrestling, Iowa averaged over 14,000 per home dual for the second year in a row this season. They have also averaged over 10,000 during five of the past seven seasons. The past two years post-Covid really tell the whole story. Carver-Hawkeye Arena is sold out for every Iowa dual, something we’ve known since the beginning of the season.

Iowa enters the postseason with a 15-1 dual record and very much in contention for both the Big Ten and national championships. With the success of the Iowa program this year as well as the pedigree of incoming recruits, don’t expect those attendance numbers to dip anytime soon!

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Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark signs deal with Topps trading cards

Topps signed a deal with star guard Caitlin Clark to produce some of the first officially licensed University of Iowa trading cards.

Trading cards are made to commemorate stitches in time for our favorite sports stars. Topps understands that and it’s why the trading card giant has inked a deal with one of college basketball’s brightest stars in Iowa guard Caitlin Clark.

After a season in which Clark led the nation in both points (27) and assists (8) per game, it makes perfect sense why Topps would want to partner with Clark. The 6-foot native of West Des Moines, Iowa, earned All-American honors last season, finished as a finalist for both the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year.

“Grew up collecting trading cards… now Topps and I have partnered to officially create my own 🙂 Could not be more grateful and excited 🤍,” Clark tweeted on Tuesday morning.

The official Topps Twitter account wrote, “Her autographs will be some of the first officially licensed University of Iowa cards made by Topps.”

One of the biggest names on Iowa’s campus is the perfect place for Topps to start. During the 2021-22 women’s college basketball season, Clark helped lead the Hawkeyes to a share of the Big Ten regular season championship and helped Iowa win the Big Ten Tournament title as well. Iowa ended its season 24-8 and advanced to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

With Clark back alongside fellow All-Amerian Monika Czinano and the Hawkeyes’ same starting five, the expectation is this is the year that Iowa can make a deep push in the NCAA Tournament.

One thing is for certain. This group has captured the hearts of Iowa City. During last year’s NCAA Tournament, Iowa fans sold out both contests inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The program has five sellouts in its all-time history and three of those came last season.

Overall, the Iowa women’s basketball team ranked third nationally in attendance for the 2021-22 season. With that in mind, Topps can expect the Iowa fan base to be one that’s eager to collect some Clark memorabilia.

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