Heath Grimm Talks of the 2012 Championships Return to Iowa

Published on July 16, 2010 by viratas · No Comments

Mark Palmer of theExaminer.com reports that Cedar Rapids has answered the call to again host an NCAA wrestling championship.

US Cellular Center in Iowa’s second-largest city will be the site of the 2012 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on March 9-10, 2012, the NCAA Championships Committee has announced. The host school for the event is Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.

The arena in downtown Cedar Rapids most recently hosted the 2010 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships this past March. It also was the venue for the 2008 NCAA Division II championships. Originally opened in June 1979 as the Five Seasons Center, US Cellular Center seats 7,200 for basketball, and up to 10,000 for concerts.

The state of Iowa may well be a mecca for hosting national collegiate wrestling championships. In June, the NCAA Championships Committee announced that Des Moines would host the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena, with Iowa State as the host school. It is the first time the event has been held in Iowa’s capital. Previous D1 mat championships have been held at Iowa State’s Hilton Coliseum, University of Northern Iowa’s UNI-Dome, and Carver-Hawkeye Arena at the University of Iowa.

“We could not be more pleased or proud to have been awarded the 2012 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships,” said David Miller, Upper Iowa’s Director of Athletics. “This honor serves as a great compliment to the efforts of our staff, volunteers, and the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and a testament to the success of the 2008 Championships. We plan to build on that championship to make this an even better event for all involved.”

According to the press release from Upper Iowa announcing the 2012 NCAAs, the 2008 NCAAs had an economic impact of approximately a half-million dollars for the Cedar Rapids area.

The 2010 NCAA Division II championships were held at Sapp Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The 2011 NCAA D2s will be hosted by University of Nebraska-Kearney.