Wrestlin is a tough ticket

There are few if any sporting events in the state with a tougher ticket than tonight’s championship round at the state high school wrestling tournament. Nearly 20-thousand requests for tickets have been made, while Vets Auditorium can seat 11-thousand four hundred. Iowa High School Athletic Association executive director Bernie Saggau says there is no indoor facility in the state that could accommodate everyone. Saggau says the planned Iowa Events Center will hold a larger crowd for the final night, but even the 2005 tournament in that new facility will likely find fans left in the cold. Saggau says he told officials to not try and build an arena to meet the entire demand for the wrestling tournament. There have been discussions about holding separate championship rounds to accommodate the crowds but Saggau says for now that is not an option. Saggau says he wanted to split the tourney until they get to a bigger arena, but he says wrestling supporters didn’t want to change.The Iowa Events Center is scheduled to open in the summer of 2004.