Hawkeye Men’s Dominance: Record-Breaking Turnout At Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Hold onto your singlets, once again, Iowa’s wrestling program has body-slammed the competition and emerged as the attendance champion! For the 2023-24 season, the Hawkeye men managed to pack a jaw-dropping 14,847 fans into Carver-Hawkeye Arena for each home dual. That’s more than double the number of fans at second-place Penn State, who managed to average a mere 7,337 fans per event while also winning the team national championship. And let’s be honest, with that kind of attendance, Iowa might need a bigger arena or a bigger snack bar! This marks the 17th consecutive year the Hawkeyes have taken home the gold medal in fan turnout—talk about a winning streak!

Was the fever only felt at home?

But the excitement didn’t stop at home. Iowa also ruled the road, being the top draw for seven out of eight of their away matches. They might as well have started a travel agency with how they turned up the crowds wherever they went!

Thanks to the Des Moines Register we learned: Over in the Big 12, Iowa State stepped into the spotlight with a third-place finish nationwide and led their conference by averaging 6,691 fans per contest. Northern Iowa also made some noise, coming in 12th nationally and 4th in the Big 12 with an average of 3,103 fans per event.

And let’s not forget the Iowa women’s wrestling team, who had crowds cheering like crazy with an average of 7,491 fans per home event across their two matches. That’s the second-highest attendance in all of collegiate wrestling! With numbers like that, it’s clear that Iowa’s passion for wrestling is more like an obsession—like a never-ending quest for the ultimate takedown.

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Here’s a rundown of the top 10 teams in men’s college wrestling attendance for the 2024-25 season. Spoiler alert: Iowa’s the heavyweight champ!

Top 10 Teams in Men’s College Wrestling Attendance for 2024-25

1. Iowa – 14,847 fans per home contest (A crowd so big, even the wrestlers need a GPS to find the edge of the mat!
2. Penn State – 7,337 (We’re sure they’re nice, but they’re gonna need a bigger gym!)
3. Iowa State – 6,691 (Not too shabby, especially for a state that’s practically one big wrestling mat!)
4. Oklahoma State – 5,871 (A solid showing—just a little more and they might be bumping elbows with the Hawkeyes!)
5. Oregon State – 5,240 (They’ve got the Beavers and the fans—now if only they could take a page from Iowa’s playbook!)
6. North Carolina State – 4,340 (They’ve got the crowd, now they just need to catch up in the standings!)
7. Michigan – 4,196 (If wrestling were a sport in a stadium, this would be a slam dunk!)
8. Ohio State – 4,072 (Close, but still a step behind the real heavyweights of wrestling.)
9. Rutgers – 3,990 (They’re just shy of breaking into the top tier—next year’s the year!)
10. Missouri – 3,393 (A respectable showing, but not quite ready for the main event spotlight.)

So, here’s to another year of Iowa wrestling dominance and to the fans who make it all happen! Keep those wrestling mats warm and those fan chants loud!