Over 5,600 tickets sold for

<< Back to Articles
Kevin Kurtt (Minnesota Sports Information)
01/15/2002


More than 5,600 tickets have been sold for "Border Brawl I," the highly anticipated wrestling meet between top-ranked Minnesota and No. 5 Iowa at the Target Center on Friday, Feb. 1, at 7 p.m. Only 2,000-plus seats remain in the lower bowl of the 19,000-seat downtown Minneapolis arena.    Tickets for "Border Brawl I" are available through Ticketmaster at (651) 989-5151 or www.ticketmaster.com.    Undoubtedly the highlight of the 2001-02 schedule, archrivals Minnesota and Iowa will face- off for conference bragging rights in a rematch of the Golden Gophers¹ two nailbiting triumphs over the Hawkeyes in 2000-01. "Border Brawl I" also exists as an attempt by Minnesota to break the NCAA wrestling dual meet attendance record of 15,291, set on Feb. 22, 1992, when Iowa defeated Iowa State 29-8 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.    The Hawkeyes return just two All-Americans in Mike Zadick (149) and Ben Shirk (165), but, as always, Iowa boasts a top recruiting class which is helping in their reloading for 2001-02. Zadick and freshman heavyweight Steve Mocco are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation at their respective weights.    Iowa holds a 53-20-1 advantage over Minnesota in a series dating to 1926. In the last meeting between the Golden Gophers and Hawkeyes, No. 1 Minnesota edged No. 4 Iowa 17-16 in an electrifying dual meet in front of 10,048 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa. The Maroon and Gold stormed out to a 14-0 lead and held on to hand the Hawkeyes their fourth loss of the season and snap their 15-dual meet home winning streak. Gold Country¹s last loss to the Hawkeyes came in 1999-2000 in front of a school-record crowd of 13,128 at Williams Arena as No. 1 Iowa downed No. 2 Minnesota 20-13.