Championship event will take place on February 22-23 at Williams Arena
It’s official! Mat Mayhem is coming to Minneapolis! The University of Minnesota has been selected as the host institution for the 2013 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual Meet Championship presented by Hibiclens and The Marines. The event will take place on Feb. 22-23 at Minnesota’s historic Williams Arena on the Minneapolis campus.
“It is exciting for the state of Minnesota,” said Minnesota Head Coach J Robinson “It’s exciting for the state to host one of the premier wrestling events in the country.”
Earlier this week, the NWCA announced a new tournament format. Instead of four teams advancing to the finals following regional competition, as was the case in 2012, eight teams will advance. Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, and host Minnesota, all receive automatic bids into the championship, while the four remaining teams earn participation by winning their respective regions.
The University of Minnesota was selected to host the event due to its ability to assist in the fulfillment of the event wide goal of growing the sport of wrestling, especially through increasing spectatorship by creating a one of a kind fan experience through a dual meet tournament.
Williams Arena will open its doors to the best in the nation beginning with four quarterfinal matches broken up into two sessions on Friday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eight teams will be trimmed to four in the semifinal round scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday and the winners will move on to battle for the championship at 7:30 p.m. that night.
With the passionate support from fans and followers, the Maroon and Gold will surely make Mat Mayhem an experience to remember, one that will be even sweeter considering the team’s clout as the reigning National Duals Champions.
“It was definitely an exciting thing for our team to win last year. With us hosting this time around, I think our guys have taken their excitement one step further,” said Robinson. “They are looking forward to wrestling in front of their home crowd against the best in the country. It’s a chance to showcase how good Minnesota is. There aren’t too many times where you get the chance to do that. “
Fox College Sports will be broadcasting 10 dual meets from the event on a 2 week tape delay to a potential universe of 54 million homes. Each dual will also be re-broadcasted a minimum of 10 times to a potential universe of 54 million homes each time.
Tickets to the event are on sale now. All-session packages are available for the reasonable price of $40. For additional pricing, seating and purchasing information, visit www.mygophersports.com. For more event information, go to the National Duals page at nwcaonline.com.