‘The world is coming to Coralville’: Why the men’s and women’s wrestling World Cups returned to Iowa

When Felicity Taylor started wrestling as a high-schooler at South Winneshiek, she mostly did it as a way to stay in shape for track and field. It wasn’t until her junior season that she started thinking big — like, globally — about her future.

“When I first started, it wasn’t a goal of mine to represent Team USA,” Taylor said. “But my junior year, I got more exposed to women’s wrestling and started going to the big national events. That’s when I set the goal to go as far as I can.”

Wrestling has taken the 22-year-old Taylor all over — to McKendree, a women’s college wrestling powerhouse, where she won a national title; to the University of Iowa, as a member of the first Division I Power 5 women’s wrestling program; to Spain and Hungary as a two-time member of USA Wrestling’s U23 world team; and, this weekend, to the World Cup.

No, not that World Cup. Wrestling’s World Cup, United World Wrestling’s international dual-meet championship, set for this Saturday and Sunday at Xtream Arena in Coralville. Taylor is the U.S. women’s freestyle rep at 53 kilograms (116 pounds).

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of this team and to be able to do it here in Iowa is even better,” Taylor said recently. “I’m ready to show the world, and show Iowa City, what Iowa women’s wrestling looks like.”

RELATED:Meet the United States women's freestyle team competing at the Wrestling World Cup this week

UWW previously held the World Cup in Iowa in 2018, down the road at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. With 12,766 fans packed inside over the two-day event, the United States men’s freestyle team beat Azerbaijan for its first World Cup title since 2003.

It's the first time men's and women's freestyle World Cups on 'equal stage'

This weekend, wrestling’s World Cup will make its return — but with a major twist.

It will mark the first time that the men’s and women’s freestyle World Cups are held side-by-side. This is also the first time a U.S. city has hosted the women’s freestyle World Cup (and the 31st time the U.S. has hosted the men’s).

“Super proud to have Iowa represent the world and be the first to put this together,” Josh Schamberger, President of Think Iowa City, said. “I liked the idea of being the first to put men and women on an equal stage to really show off the sport.”

UWW was thrilled with the 2018 World Cup — the fanfare, the action, all of it — so much that discussions about a return trip to Iowa began before the event ended that year. He thought the event could be even better, Schamberger said.

This combined World Cup will not only be a team-focused showcase of some of the best wrestling on the planet, with a couple hundred world-class wrestlers from 19 different countries, but also an extension of Schamberger's and the Think Iowa City team’s continued commitment to the growth of girls and women’s wrestling.

No hesitation, just determination

“The world is coming to Coralville,” Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands said. “Wrestling is important here, but this happens because of a lot of concerted, focused energy from a lot of important people.

“Balls get dropped quick when you hesitate. Josh Schamberger does not hesitate.”

MORE:Jordan Burroughs wins gold at worlds, makes USA Wrestling history

Not long after that 2018 World Cup, Schamberger and Luke Eustice, an All-American Hawkeye wrestler who’s now the Iowa City Area Sports Commission director, flew to Switzerland and met with UWW. They formally pitched the idea of bringing the men’s and women’s World Cup competitions together. They had a lot to sell.

In May 2018, construction began on what is now Xtream Arena, a project Schamberger worked with closely to ensure it would be “the best wrestling venue in the country.” It has since hosted numerous national and statewide events, like USA Wrestling’s world team trials and, this coming February, the girls state wrestling championships.

Women’s wrestling continues to surge in popularity nationwide. Girls wrestling is America’s fastest-growing high school sport, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. In Iowa, more than 2,000 high school girls are wrestling this year, one of the highest single-state totals in the country.

On top of that, the University of Iowa, which has led the nation in NCAA wrestling attendance every year since 2007, became the first Division I Power 5 school to add a women’s wrestling program, and is now led by Clarissa Chun, a 2008 world champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist.

Finally, the U.S. has become an international power in women’s freestyle wrestling, with all kinds of Senior and age-level world championship success as well as four individual medal-winners at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. USA Wrestling had five all-time women’s wrestling Olympic medalists, total, in the previous four Olympic games.

“There’s been more support for young girls and for women to share the same space as the men,” said Chun, who made her first U.S. world team in 2000, and the world championships that year, she said, were contested in what looked like a high school gymnasium.

“The acceptance of women’s wrestlers is different now,” she continued. “The world is ready. Girls can wrestle, too. It’s going to continue to blow up. It’s a sport for all.”

MORE:Amit Elor, 18, becomes youngest American to win world wrestling title

UWW officials were impressed. For so long, women’s wrestling wasn’t at the forefront. The lack of gender equity was one of the many reasons wrestling was nearly axed from the Olympics in 2013. Swift changes were made and continue to be made — like adding more Olympic weight classes for women and more female voices in UWW executive positions.

The COVID-19 pandemic briefly paused conversations, but Schamberger sent an updated proposal during the 2021 world championships in Norway. UWW President Nenad Lalovic green-lit the combined World Cup idea and awarded the event to Schamberger for both this year and next year.

“This is really about raising awareness about the growth of girls and women’s wrestling,” Schamberger continued. “I was in Serbia two months ago meeting with all these teams. I wore an Iowa women’s wrestling shirt. They know exactly where Iowa is, whether it’s Ukraine, China, Japan, Mongolia. It’s special, man. Makes me happy.”

Expect thrilling wrestling action all weekend long

The action should be thrilling all weekend. There are six teams in each competition: the top five teams from September’s world championships in Serbia, plus a sixth "All-World" team comprised of many of the top individuals who aren’t on a qualifying team.

In all, there could be as many as 15 Senior world champions and another 43 Senior world medalists, plus 15 more age-level world champions and 11 age-level world medalists all on the mats this weekend inside Xtream Arena. That's between the men and women combined.

That’s a lot of talented wrestlers that could leave a lasting impression.

“All the young girls will see senior athletes that compete on the world stage,” Chun said. “That visibility is huge. They’ll be able to see that and dream and visualize opportunities like that.

“It’s been huge to see the growth of the sport, and it’s a great opportunity to have this even right here in our backyard.”

RELATED:Meet the United States men's freestyle team competing at the Wrestling World Cup this week

Schamberger has finetuned every last detail to give wrestlers and fans a show unlike any they’ve seen in the U.S. before. Here’s one he loves: Each country will have two ambassadors that will lead the team onto the arena floor before each dual. One will carry the country’s flag and the other will hold a sign.

For the U.S. women's team, Schamberger hand-picked Lilly Luft, a senior from Charles City and future Iowa women’s wrestler, and Kona Hughes, a 9-year-old Coralville native who wrestles for nearby Big Game Wrestling Club and “has been crushing the boys,” Schamberger said with a smile. “That’s our future right there.”

“I don’t think I watched any senior-level wrestling until I competed in it,” said Taylor, who won the U.S. Open last spring. “For girls around Iowa and all over the country to get to watch the highest level of wrestling up close, it’s a great opportunity.”

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: Here's how the men's and women's wrestling World Cups came back to Iowa