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Iowa opens $31 million wrestling facility for men’s and women’s programs

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Iowa opens  million wrestling facility for men’s and women’s programs


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IOWA CITY – Following a historic day in 2015 at Kinnick Stadium, when the Iowa wrestling program upended the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State in front of the largest crowd for a collegiate wrestling dual ever, Tom Brands went out to a tailgate at the football practice facility for the upcoming Minnesota-Iowa football game.

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A man named Bob Nicolls approached him. They chatted briefly, trading comments as people do at a tailgate. Nicolls was insistent that he could be of help, as a Hawkeye wrestling fan since his days as a freshman and then as a real-estate businessman in operating Monarch Investments. He approached Iowa wrestling’s director of operations at the time, Luke Eustice.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Nicolls told Eustice.

Eustice passed that message to Brands. Not long after, Brands gave Nicolls a call. He and Eustice were headed to Colorado in a car, driving hundreds of miles to have a visit at 7 a.m. the next morning.

After that meet-up, Brands and Eustice walked out of Nicolls’ office in Colorado with a $50,000 check for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and a $1,000,000 commitment to helping build a new practice facility for Iowa. The Iowa wrestling room was named after Bob and his wife, Kathy Nicolls. That commitment later expanded to $3,000,000.

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The facility itself, which was officially unveiled Thursday, is named the Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center, after Doug and Ann Goschke. When Brands met with the Goschke family at their home to discuss the project, he remembers their family dog dashing over the kitchen table and sitting on his lap.

It’s little stories like that of Brands meeting passionate Hawkeye wrestling fans that led to this $31 million facility for the Hawkeyes, all of which has been privately funded.

“In this endeavor, I’ve made a lot of friends,” Brands said. “I’m a pretty gracious person when it comes to being thankful and showing gratitude, so they got me as a friend whether they want to or not.”

‘We have to continue to lead.’

Before you can even reach the main doors, you have to pass the Dan Gable statue with his fist raised high, moved from his original location by the northwest entrance and directly above where the Dan Gable Wrestling Complex was.

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Upon entry, you’re greeted with what is dubbed a “Hall of Champions” with team and individual trophies. Also on the first floor are coach and staff offices. Those offices have windows that look down onto the wrestling mats on the lower level.

The first level also includes individual men’s and women’s lounges that house areas to relax, but also nutrition stations and other amenities to promote physical and mental well-being.

On the lower level is where much of the competing is set to occur. Upon going downstairs, the floor opens up to a six-mat-wide wrestling room. Ropes dangle from the ceiling along with televisions plastered on the wall.

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The most important feature of that wrestling room, Brands said, may be the layout. Adjacent to the mats and directly underneath where the mats lie is the strength and training center. Athletic training areas to treat injuries and fatigue are accessible right off the mats, as well as bikes with tablets stationed around the outskirts of the mats.

Brands said that was a part of the old facility, an idea introduced by Dan Gable. Brands added the additional athletic training portion to that flow. The idea centers around being able to move from one workout to the next with no delay. Having the athletic training space close by requires and reminds athletes to check in when needed.

Brands and the staff received pushback for trying to implement that once again in the new facility, but that was a deal breaker.

“Notice the flow, it’s by design,” Brands said. “It will get better with time. We will learn how to use it better. We will put more powerful and more credentialed athletes in this space and win championships.”

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Down on the lower level are also men’s and women’s locker rooms and individual ice bath and sauna areas. Prior to this facility opening, the women were required to share locker-room space with the opposing teams in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since the previous facility did not have space.

“This personal space allows us to mentally and physically prepare for the battles ahead,” Iowa women’s wrestler Nyla Valencia said. “It ensures we can focus entirely on our performance and well-being.”

From that floor, Hawkeye wrestlers will be able to prepare and race down the tunnel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for matches.

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With the price tag large and a 38,000 square-foot building to build in, the Hawkeyes’ programs have the nation’s premier wrestling facility. That comes at a time when the inevitability of revenue-sharing has prevented other programs from moving forward with projects of their own and will continue to do so in the future.

Iowa is not interested in being in an arms race with other programs, Brands said. This was another step for the men’s program to return to a championship level after missing out on a team trophy this past season, and just as important, a place the women’s program can continue to dominate as it did in its inaugural season.

“We have to continue to lead,” Brands said. “I don’t think we’re in a race to put great facilities in the ground to be ahead of the competition. You look at what’s necessary. We still have a lot of work to do. Our donors dug deep, they stepped up. Now, we got to perform.”

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23





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Iowa student reflects on years away from home as Russia & Ukraine war reaches third year

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Iowa student reflects on years away from home as Russia & Ukraine war reaches third year


CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (KCRG) – Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 millions of people have fled the country, as fighting continues many of them have been unable to return home.

It’s been more than three years since Ukrainian student Iryna Hodun last saw her family in person. She was 16 years old when she originally came to the United States as part of an exchange program, just months later Russia’s invasion began.

Today she’s a a student at the University of Northern Iowa and studies interior design. She keeps up with her family and speaks with her mother every day on the phone, but she misses her home.

”It’s challenging, the reality has changed a lot,” Hodun said. “Whenever you grow up living a peaceful life, a lot of people take it for granted.”

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None of her family has been harmed. They live in the western part of Ukraine, away from most of the fighting; however, they have still had to take shelter multiple times for bombings. She’s found a great community of friends in Cedar Falls but she’s excited to one day being able to return to Ukraine.

“Specifically in Cedar Falls, people are very nice and very welcoming,” Hodun said. “I would be very excited to see my mom, my dad and my grandparents and I would just love to go back to my city.”

The last two months have brought developments with major talks around ending the war but with the U.S. and Russia excluding Ukraine from the bargaining table.

“If it’s the peace that we are going to agree to terms of the aggressor and imperialist who supports war crimes, land taking, it’s not peacemaking, that’s surrender,” Hodun said.

Ultimately she is staying optimistic about the days ahead.

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“I’m always hopeful that we will get what we deserve,” Hodun said. “The people who lost their families, who lost friends and, lost things from the war, they will get the justice they deserve because those people need it the most.”



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Pittsburgh Steelers Becoming Possible Suitor for Iowa Hawkeyes Star

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Pittsburgh Steelers Becoming Possible Suitor for Iowa Hawkeyes Star


The Iowa Hawkeyes have a few key players heading off into the 2025 NFL Draft. Headlined by running back Kaleb Johnson, fans will have more players to continue rooting on at the professional level.

Johnson saw his draft stock skyrocket throughout the 2024 season. He is now in a position where he should end up being a second round lock, if not ending up being selected late in the first round.

Plenty of teams around the league need help at running back. Fans are now anxious to see where he ends up going.

An intriguing name has been brought up as a potential suitor. That team is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Adam Hulse of SportsKeeda has named the Steelers as one of the top landing spots for Johnson in the draft.

“The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently considering what to do with both of their running backs, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, pending free agents,” Hulse wrote. “It’s unclear if they will bring either of them back, but it’s unlikely that they will re-sign both. They could pivot to the 2025 NFL draft to address the position, so Johnson makes a ton of sense for them.”

During the 2024 college football season, Johnson was the main driving force of the Hawkeyes’ offense. He carried the football 240 times for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns. Those numbers average out to an elite 6.4 yards per carry. He also chipped in 22 catches for 188 yards and two more scores.

Those numbers would look awfully good in the Pittsburgh backfield. Johnson could end up becoming a long-term workhorse for whoever ends up landing him.

No one knows who the Steelers’ quarterback will be in 2025. Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are two options, with Aaron Rodgers being a name that has been connected quite a bit to Pittsburgh as well.

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Whoever ends up being the quarterback, the presence of Johnson could help take a lot of pressure off of the passing game.

READ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Should Consider Calling Rick Pitino

READ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Linked to Big Ten Coach as Fran McCaffery Replacement

READ MORE: Iowa Hawkeyes Star Working Out with Aaron Rodgers Before Draft

READ MORE: Fran McCaffery Has Heartbreaking Reaction to Iowa Hawkeyes Loss to Oregon

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READ MORE: Former Iowa Hawkeyes Star Could Land with New England Patriots



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Cryer’s 28 leads No. 5 Houston past No. 8 ISU

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Cryer’s 28 leads No. 5 Houston past No. 8 ISU


HOUSTON — L.J. Cryer scored 28 points, Milos Uzan added 19 points and No. 5 Houston held on to beat No. 8 Iowa State 68-59 on Saturday.

Cryer and Uzan combined to shoot 18 of 27, including 8 of 12 on 3-pointers. Emanuel Sharp added 11 points for Houston (23-4, 15-1 Big 12), which won its sixth straight.

Milan Momcilovic scored all 16 of his points in the second half to lead a furious rally for the Cyclones (21-6, 11-5). Nate Heise added 12 points, and Tamin Lipsey scored 11.

Trailing by 16 midway through the second half, the Cyclones used an 18-3 run to cut the lead to 48-47 on a 3-pointer by Heise with eight minutes remaining. Houston responded with four straight points to push the lead back to five.

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The Cyclones struggled offensively at times without their two leading scorers — Keshon Gilbert was out with a muscle strain and Curtis Jones missed the game due to illness — but they did well defensively forcing Houston into a season-high 17 turnovers.

Houston shot 53% and went 10 of 17 from distance, while Iowa State shot 39%, including 8 of 20 behind the arc.

With the win, the Cougars inched closer to a second straight Big 12 regular-season title. They currently lead second-place Arizona by 2 ½ games with four games left. Houston is 30-4 in the Big 12 in its two seasons in the league.

Houston travels to No. 9 Texas Tech on Monday while Iowa State takes on Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Tuesday.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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