Northern Iowa begins the 2022-23 wrestling season by saying goodbye to the historic West Gym

CEDAR FALLS — “What is the future of the West Gym?”

The question hit Doug Schwab, head coach of the Northern Iowa wrestling program, hard, even though he knew it was coming — even while he stood inside the very building in question on Thursday afternoon.

Schwab is officially in his 13th year as the Panthers’ coach, and unofficially kicked off the 2022-23 season on Thursday with the team’s media day. For 25 minutes, he spoke with his usual entertaining stream-of-consciousness answers — on his lineup, on the improvement of specific wrestlers, on his love for Nike’s new golf pants.

Really.

“I’ve pushed the boundaries of being able to do anything in them,” he said laughing. “You can do anything in them. You can wrestle in them. You can do squats in them. You can do a sauna session in them.”

But here came the unavoidable topic he’s openly talked about for about a year now. Schwab’s mood noticeably dropped when asked, and he began his answer by partially repeating the question — “the future of the West Gym” — as he collected his thoughts.

“There’s a timeframe, as far as, being able to train in here,” he continued. “We’re getting more information and figuring all of those things out.”

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Northern Iowa is beginning the 2022-23 wrestling season by saying goodbye to the historic West Gym. All five of the Panthers’ home duals this season will be held across the street at the McLeod Center, a gigantic step toward leaving the West Gym behind.

Last year, Northern Iowa athletics capped season tickets at the West Gym while studying the building’s long-term feasibility. The West Gym was deemed structurally safe but modifications were needed to meet building codes. Among the issues: the upper-level railings are not tall enough and the gaps between the bars are too wide.

As such, the Panthers held just four duals at the West Gym last season, and two others, against Iowa State and Wisconsin, at McLeod. The last dual held at the West Gym was a 31-10 win over West Virginia on Feb. 5, 2022.

At the time, Schwab hoped the Panthers’ iconic home venue would host more competitions, but last month, Northern Iowa athletics announced that all home wrestling duals would be held at McLeod moving forward, citing a larger home venue was needed for the Panthers to keep pace with the rest of the Big 12 Conference.

“The West Gym has been a very special place for the entire wrestling community,” David Harris, Northern Iowa’s athletic director, said in a release. “Our wrestling program in particular has an undeniable emotional bond to this historic facility.

“However, the necessary repairs to maintain it as a competition facility are cost prohibitive," Harris continued. "We have demonstrated that an exciting environment for wrestling can be created in the McLeod Center.”

The West Gym’s capacity is an intimate 2,100. McLeod holds 7,018. The Panthers ranked 14th nationally in home wrestling attendance last season and has cracked the top-10 four times during Schwab’s tenure (2014-17). Each of the 13 teams ranked ahead of them has a home venue with a larger capacity than the West Gym.

When Iowa State beat Northern Iowa, 19-15, at McLeod last year, attendance was, officially, 4,624, but the eye test suggested many more were in the building that night.

“It was packed,” added Lance Runyon, Northern Iowa’s starting 174-pounder. “People were hanging over the railings and it was basically standing-room only on the top level. I’m definitely looking forward to that.”

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The other issue with leaving the West Gym behind is that it also houses the Panthers’ practice room, locker room, weight room, and other wrestling and athletic facilities.

While the Panthers won’t compete at the West Gym anymore, they will continue to train there “on a short-term basis,” according to Northern Iowa athletics, which added that “the functional lifespan of the West Gym is limited.”

“A financial commitment of approximately $20 million to replace the roof … and to begin making other structural improvements to bring the facility up to the standards necessary to host dual meets is impractical and prohibitive,” UNI athletics said in a release last month.

“UNI continues to evaluate its options for a wrestling operations and training center that will fill the needs of the program on a long-term basis,” the release continued. “New wrestling offices and a well-conceived space for day-to-day wrestling operations is vital to ensure that the upward trajectory of UNI Wrestling continues.”

Northern Iowa has previously renovated McLeod and plans to renovate the UNI-Dome, but no plans have been released yet for the future home of the wrestling program.

“My biggest concern is that our program is going to a better place, and I believe that’ll happen,” Schwab said. “I believe we have the support and the people behind us for that to happen.

“To me, it’ll be building new memories. It’ll move this thing forward, the program. McLeod, hosting matches in there, it can certainly help us do that.”

Schwab’s three-minute response to the initial question — "What is the future of the West Gym?” — was as hopeful for a bright future as much as it was part-resignation to the end of an era. The memories of the West Gym, he continued, run deep.

The West Gym opened in 1925, built for a “mere $180,000,” according to UNI’s athletics website. It hosted more than just wrestling. Northern Iowa’s volleyball team once won 74 matches in a row in that building from 1997-2004.

But wrestling quickly became the mainstay at the West Gym. It hosted multiple state tournaments and even held the 1950 NCAA Division I Championships — which the Panthers won, then as Iowa State Teachers College, with 30 total team points and three individual champs: Keith Young (145), Bill Nelson (155), Bill Smith (165).

In 1952, Smith became the first Northern Iowa athlete from any sport to win Olympic gold. There’s a commemorative display inside one of West Gym’s hallways honoring his accomplishment, complete with black-and-white pictures and Smith’s gold medal.

“There’s a lot of history here,” said Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa’s starting 184-pounder and a two-time All-American. “A lot of good wrestlers, even Olympic champs, came out of this building.”

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Before Smith, there was Bill Koll, a three-time undefeated NCAA Champion for the Panthers. His son, Rob, is now the head coach at Stanford after a 28-year tenure at Cornell. In 2018, Rob Koll’s Cornell team beat Northern Iowa, 21-14, at the West Gym.

“I used to vacation here, so I used to run through these halls when I was a little boy,” Rob Koll said back then. “… I feel like I'm home at this place. It hasn't changed a whole lot, the facility, obviously.”

Schwab’s memories include watching his older brothers, Mike and Mark, during their All-American careers for the Panthers in the 1980s. The family grew up an hour north in Osage. Mike and Doug were both state champs. Mark was a four-timer from 1982-85.

“I literally grew up in this building,” Doug Schwab said. “In 1983, I’m six years old and I’m on the side of the mat and I’m here watching my brothers wrestle. I’m under these dang bleachers. I certainly have an attachment to this place.

“I love this building. I’ve never been afraid to say that.”

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He paused.

"What is the future of the West Gym?"

This place became a hot-and-rowdy beehive of a home venue for the Panthers, a jam-packed bandbox that made opposing coaches sweat and opposing wrestlers wilt. It will remain just that to those who experienced its magic.

Schwab took pride in packing this tiny building for home meets each winter. More importantly, he said, he enjoyed the people he made all those memories with, and hopes his program's future home is a place where they can make more.

“We won’t compete in here anymore, and that’s sad,” Schwab continued. “There’s a certain character to this place. But I don’t give a rat’s ass about all the bells and whistles. It’s the people inside the building that help you win.

“I want to move into the next 100-year building. We have some things to figure out, but we’ll remember this place, and we’ll make sure this place gets its proper due.”

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI wrestling begins 2022-23 season by saying goodbye to the West Gym