Iowa, Oklahoma State headline celebration of wrestling at “Bout at the Ballpark”

Iowa and Oklahoma State remain atop the hierarchy of storied college wrestling programs.

They are flagships steered by two Olympic champion competitors and national title coaches. Members of a fierce rivalry spawned by states that value the sport.

The Hawkeyes and Cowboys are natural fits to headline unique events that help promote wrestling, like they did for “Grapple On The Gridiron,” a dual in front of 42,287 fans in Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium on Nov. 14, 2015. The national powers will come together again on what promises to be another marquee event for the sport.

Second-ranked Iowa and No. 10 Oklahoma State will participate in “Bout at the Ballpark” at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Feb. 12. The annual dual will be held simultaneously with a men’s freestyle dual between the United States and Iran. The showcase also includes a women’s freestyle dual between USA Wrestling and Mongolia and a youth takedown tournament.

“It is the two most storied programs in college wrestling,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said during a promotional Zoom conference Wednesday afternoon. “It is an unprecedented event in Texas with the collaboration with USA Wrestling. We’re excited. We’re going to get off a plane in Texas and be in competition mode. There is some pageantry there and good job with everybody that’s been involved with it.

“It’s a wrestling bonanza. We love it. We love being a part of it.”

Oklahoma State Coach John Smith said his wrestlers and Cowboys fans are excited to participate, even if it comes right in the middle of regular season’s home stretch.

“Just a neat event to be a part of,” said Smith, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time World champion. “I couldn’t be more proud than to be competing against Iowa in this event. Just know Oklahoma State is really looking forward to the opportunity to have this experience.”

The goal was to produce a festival of the sport, highlighting all ages and levels with hopes of it becoming an annual event.

“The biggest thing we tried to create here was a celebration of the sport,” REV Entertainment President Sean Decker said. “So, to take everything from every age group, if you will, and both men’s and women’s.”

The youth tournament will consist of 300 athletes and will be held early in the day. The women’s dual will precede the college and men’s freestyle dual. The latter will be held on adjacent mats at the same time.

“We’re going to introduce both matches at the same time, so we can get the fanfare for all four of the wrestlers, while they are simultaneously going on,” Decker said of the Oklahoma State-Iowa and USA-Iran duals. “With pyro and all the production elements, we want it to be the best produced wrestling event in the world.

“We hope to have something for all fans. Not just wrestling fans, but the Texas community has grown tremendously in the sport of wrestling over the last few years. We’re super excited to bring this event to them.”

These events have become crucial to grow wrestling and garner more interest from sports fans. Brands said he did not hesitate to participate, similar to the way Smith agreed to “Grapple on the Gridiron” more than six years ago. He is in favor of the unique competitions as long as they make sense, regardless of timing. College wrestling still provides the greatest platform and the involvement made sense to Brands.

“I know the highest level of wrestling is the Olympic Games and the international style but college wrestling is the biggest stage in wrestling,” said Brands, a two-time World champion and 1996 gold medalist in Atlanta. “It’s the most attended type of wrestling we have on the planet. I’m not even talking about the United States. I’m talking about the planet.

“We have to be ready. We have to show up and perform and that’s what is going to make it the most special for us, if we perform.”

Decker said 10,000 tickets have been sold. He said potential exists to at least double those attendance figures.

“We know for these crowds that lines wrap around the building for day-of purchases as folks figure out their travel plans and all that,” Decker said. “Our expectations are to have 20,000 or more.”

Iowa and Oklahoma State continue to be innovative and attempt to lead the way in advancing the sport. Bout at the Ballpark could be another boost to interest, especially in a state like Texas, where wrestling has boomed despite the lack of college programs.

“It’s something bigger than our own programs,” Smith said. “It’s just a nice thing to always promote your sport however you can promote it you do. Sometimes it’s not the best for your team to do some of this stuff, but in the end it creates more interest in our sport, we believe.

“In the end, we’re not only looking out for our programs, but we also try to create a vision that is important to look out for our sport as well.”