Des Moines will host the 2012 NAIA Wrestling National Championships March 1-2, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced Monday.
The event, which will be held at the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Iowa’s capital city, has been relocated because of renovations planned at that time for the original venue, U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Exhibition Center was completed in 2010. According to the NAIA, the facility has fixed seating for 3,500, along a concession area. The Exhibition Center has hosted a variety of athletic events, including the 2011 Wrestling Corn Cob Nationals, and will be the site of the 2012 Iowa Junior High Wrestling State Championships.
“The very nature of the circumstances surrounding this bid process required the NAIA to attract a quality venue and a solid host committee,” said NAIA Championship Sport Manager Scott McClure. “We’re confident that the host committee and the city of Des Moines will go the extra mile in making this year’s NAIA Wrestling National Championships at the Jacobson Exhibition Center an outstanding experience for our student-athletes, coaches and fans.”
The Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau, Des Moines Area Sports Commission and Grand View University (Iowa) will serve as hosts.
This will be the eighth time the NAIA Wrestling National Championships will be held in the state of Iowa. Cedar Rapids and Sioux City have hosted the event in the past. The 2013 NAIA championships will return to U.S. Cellular Center.
The NAIA estimates that 5,000-8,000 fans will attend the event.
The first NAIA Wrestling National Championships occurred in 1958. Currently, there are 37 varsity wrestling programs in the NAIA.
Want to know more? To learn more about NAIA wrestling, visit their official website.
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