The University of Iowa continues to be the standard-bearer for college wrestling attendance. For the past three seasons, the Hawkeyes averaged over 14,000 fans for home duals. A record 42,287 attended the Grapple on the Gridiron on November 14, 2015 — a home dual between Oklahoma State and Iowa at Kinnick Stadium before the Minnesota football game. 

Here are six reasons Iowa has the country’s largest wrestling fan base. Watch the below interview with former Hawkeye coach Dan Gable for his insights.

1. Winning Program

Iowa hired Gary Kurdelmeier during the 1972-73 season. Kurdelmeier’s first order of business was to hire Dan Gable as his assistant. Gable was fresh off a win at the 1972 Munich Olympics when he arrived in Iowa City. 

Hiring Gable marked a turning point. Iowa finished seventh at the 1973 NCAA Championships, fifth in 1974, and first in 1975 and 1976. Gable took over as head coach during the 1977 season and his teams won 15 of 21 championships and 21 consecutive Big Ten titles. 

The Hawkeyes have never finished lower than eighth at nationals for 51 straight seasons. No other program compares during that span. 

“Iowa fans are used to excitement,” Gable said. “Iowa fans are used to winning. A lot of it has to do with how the kid wrestles. Iowa wrestling has done it for so long with such good performances that they’re consistent.”

Iowa Wrestling NCAA Championships Results: 1973-2025

2. Innovative Marketing

Kurdelmeier was a marketing genius, looking for ways to engage the local community. His most famous was using a large mat for a dual so the opposing team couldn’t run (it was banned by the NCAA shortly after). He also worked with McDonald’s on free burger promotion if Iowa kept a team under a certain amount of points. 

“We got people in there, we scared the hell of the opponent, we won the match, and everybody got to go eat burgers,” Gable said. 

Iowa coach Tom Brands took it a step further in 2015. He hosted a wrestling dual on a football field.

3. H.A.W.K

The Hawkeye Area Wrestling Klub is the oldest collegiate wrestling fan support organization. According to its website, H.A.W.K was formed in 1978 by two individuals wanting to enhance the University of Iowa wrestling fan experience. They conceived to organize a group of individuals similarly interested in Iowa wrestling. H.A.W.K. has grown to a fan group of well over a thousand members.

“Ed McGinness (one of the founders) was an important factor,” Gable said. “Fan support groups are more important than ever. If I was coaching I would realize that and be grateful for all the time that was spent going to (the meetings and post-meet socials). It’s an example for everybody. Those leaders off the mat are as important as those on the mat because that’s what creates on-the-mat performance — those 14,000 season ticket holders Iowa has.”

4. Invested Local Media

Iowa wrestling was headline sports news for major newspapers throughout the state. That generated interest and a following when the Hawkeyes started to win championships. 

Iowa Publick Television played a factory according to Andy Hamilton's article “The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of Iowa High School Wrestling”:

Iowa Public Television was on the cutting edge of this trend. IPTV broadcasted the high school state finals beginning in 1972 with select college duals beginning in 1977.

That trend continued until 2002 when the state tournament was removed from public television while college duals continued through the end of the decade. Iowa Public Television was a groundbreaking revelation to a state that was on fire for the sport. 

It reached all corners of the state and covered a 50-mile radius beyond the borders. It crossed all socioeconomic boundaries since anyone could access the station and, get this: there were no commercials. There was nothing to disrupt the flow of watching wrestling and the action that surrounded it. 

“It was the only wrestling on television at the time,” Brands said. “Iowa Public Television was live wrestling and it was the best collegiate wrestling in the country — and it was right in your living room when you only had four stations.” 

5. Educated Fans

“The educated fan knows even more sometimes than you know because it’s a conversation all the time,” Gable said. “Even though we were not winning for four years after 1987, (the fans saw) what was happening for the future. They could see a rebuilding process. They could see it was going to happen again and it did. 

“That’s what an educated fan is, and they can help you. I was thinking ‘Maybe they need somebody else.’ They said, ‘Gable, we see what you’re building.’ I’m glad they saw it because I didn’t exactly see it. That motivated me.”

Iowa Attendance Figures: 2001-2024

6. Wrestling Matters In Iowa

Iowa is known worldwide for wrestling. Another successful college sport at the University of Iowa might not garner the attention that wrestling gets. The sport is popular at the youth and high school levels, feeding into the Hawkeye wrestling frenzy.