Coralville Will Be Site Of USA Wrestling's Senior Nationals

Iowa wrestler Spencer Lee qualified for what would have been the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials by winning at the Senior Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas last December.

This year, the event will be in the neighborhood of Lee and the other current and former Hawkeye wrestlers.

USA Wrestling announced on Thursday that the Senior Nationals will be held at the new Xtream Arena and GreenState Family Fieldhouse in Coralville on October 9-11.

It’s a popular area for USA Wrestling, which has held numerous events at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

This will be the fourth time the Senior Nationals has been held in the area, as Iowa City played host to the 1975, 1977 and 1978 U.S. Greco-Roman Senior Nationals.

Other major Senior-level USA Wrestling events held in Iowa City were the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, as well as the 1983 Freestyle World Team Trials. United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling also brought the 2018 Freestyle World Cup to Iowa City.

Think Iowa City, the convention and visitors bureau for the Iowa City/Coralville area, is the local organizing committee for the event.

This will be the first major Senior-level event hosted by USA Wrestling since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. USA Wrestling said the event will be conducted following the requirements of the state and local health authorities, as well as using the safety provisions of the organization’s Return to Events Guidelines.

The new Xtream Arena will be officially opened in September, with seating capacity of 5,100. As many as six mats will be used during the tournament, with the championship matches on one mat.