Council Bluffs, Iowa is one of the seven cities which has submitted a bid to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting. The target date for the event is the weekend of April 20-21, 2012.

The Council Bluffs bid has been submitted by Council Bluffs Convention & Visitor Bureau & Council Bluffs Olympic Trials Committee. The proposed venue for the competition is the Mid America Center.

“We believe that Council Bluffs, Iowa, with its rich history in the sport of wrestling, and a solid base of weightlifting participants and competitions, should be chosen to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting,” said Russ Francis, Spokesman for the Council Bluffs Olympic Trials Committee. “Job One for us is to fill every seat in the Mid America Center for these events. The City and businesses of Council Bluffs, and the surrounding metropolitan area, have treated wrestling well during the recent NCAA Div. I and II Wrestling Championships and the last two U.S. World Team Trials hosted in our community. We have learned a good deal from those experiences, and are ready, willing, and able to perform on every part of our bid to USA Wrestling and USA Weightlifting.”

“I want to extend my warmest invitation to bring the 2012 Olympic Trials in Wrestling and Weightlifting to Council Bluffs, Iowa,” said Bob Mundt, President and CEO of the Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce. “The Council Bluffs bid represents an unprecedented package of details that meet and exceed your expectation, and prove that our community is ready to win this opportunity and build a relationship with USA Wrestling, USA Weightlifting, and the U.S. Olympic Committee that’s mutually beneficial for a long time.”

The competition venue at the Mid America Center has 8,500 permanent seats and has more than enough room on the main arena floor for the required raised wrestling mats and weightlifting positions. There is also an attached exhibit hall, which would be used for warm-up areas and staging needs. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.midamericacenter.com

The Council Bluffs Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Council Bluffs Olympic Trials Committee have joined to organize and prepare to work on this bid. Athletes, coaches and officials, families and fans from around the country will find the hospitality, cost friendly air fares, and affordable hotels and amenities in Council Bluffs a fit for their needs. For more information visit www.councilbluffsiowa.com/convention_and_visitors

Council Bluffs hosted the 2009 and 2010 USA Wrestling World Team Trials for wrestling at the Mid America Center. This event was the qualifying event for the U.S. Senior World Teams in all three Olympic styles. Many of the same athletes who competed in these two events will be expected to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling.

Neighboring Omaha was the host of two NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2010. The NCAA Div. I National Championships was hosted at the Qwest Center, and the NCAA Div. II National Championships were hosted on the campus of the Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha. It was the fifth time which UNO hosted the Div. II Nationals, along with 1980, 1988, 1999 and 2005.

Other major sports events held in Council Bluffs include the NJCAA National Volleyball Finals (2007-09) at the Mid-America Center, the USSSA and Triple Crown baseball championships, RAGBRAI (with 30,000 people) at the Mid-America Center, and Men’s and Youth Bowling Congresses (2007, 2008, 2010).

The Iowa Wrestling Federation is an active and successful USA Wrestling state association, with 2,323 athletes, 322 coaches and 45 clubs in the 2009-10 membership year. The organization is led by state chairperson Mark Reiland of Iowa City. The IWF has helped host many national and regional events, including U.S. World Team Trials events in Council Bluffs, Ames, Sioux City, Waterloo and Iowa City. The Northern Plains Junior/Senior Regionals is hosted regularly in Waterloo. For more information, visit www.iowawrestling.org

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, Iowa had 6,655 boys high school wrestlers from 314 high school teams in 2009-10. The NFHS statistics also included 47 girl high school wrestlers from 25 programs. Iowa and the surrounding Midwest states are considered a hotbed for amateur wrestling, with a strong fan following for the sport.

Among the nearby colleges with wrestling is the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the NCAA Div. II national wrestling champions, which has won six national titles under legendary coach Mike Denney. Two of the nation’s top Div. I wrestling programs at Iowa State University and the University of Nebraska are located in close proximity to Council Bluffs, with Nebraska 64 miles away and Iowa State 163 miles away. Both currently compete in the Big 12 Conference, and have developed numerous NCAA champions and All-Americans. 

Other Div. I wrestling programs in the state of Iowa include the Univ. of Iowa, 242 miles from Council Bluffs, and the University of Northern Iowa, 253 miles from Council Bluffs. The state of Iowa boasts 23 college varsity wrestling programs, including three in Div. I, one in Div. II, nine in Div. III, six in the NAIA and four in the NJCAA.

Council Bluffs natives Trent and Travis Paulson, who attended Lewis Central High School, have made recent U.S. World freestyle teams.

There is an active powerlifting community in the Council Bluffs/Omaha metro area led by Rick Hussey, a respected coach and former power lift competitor who owns the Big Iron gym. Hussey oversees training for competition lifters such as Shawn Frankl, recently on the cover of Power Magazine. Big Iron produces 6-8 powerlifting events each year on a local or regional basis. A number of other metro fitness companies train in competitive powerlifting, plus UN-Omaha, Creighton, and Iowa Western Community College have robust powerlifting programs.
 
The Council Bluffs metropolitan area includes a population of 1 million people. The Mid-America Center/Entertainment District features numerous hotels within either walking distance or a short drive. Council Bluffs has over 2,300 affordable hotel rooms ready and willing to accommodate guests. The city is served by the Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Neb. at the intersection of I-80 and I-29.

Among the major tourist attractions are the Lewis and Clark Monument, the Great Plains Wing Commemorative Air Force Museum and the historic General Dodge House. Among the popular locations in the city include Bayliss Park and the Wabash Trace Nature Trail. There are three casinos near the competition venue. Neighboring Omaha has numerous attractions of note, including the Henry Doorly Zoo and Lauritzen Gardens.

The group of seven bid cities will be reduced to between three and four finalist bids, with an announcement from USA Wrestling and USA Weightlifting expected on Dec. 20.

The organizing committees selected as finalists will be invited to make an in-person presentation on behalf of their bid during the week of Jan. 10-14, 2011. A committee will review the finalist bid presentations. An announcement on the bid selected to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting is targeted for Jan. 17, 2011.

Each bid proposal includes hosting both the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting. The wrestling event will feature competition in the three Olympic styles of the sport – men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle.  The weightlifting event will include both men’s and women’s weight divisions.

The competition will determine the U.S. athletes in both sports who will qualify to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.