Award-Winning Wrestling Journalist Shares Masterplan to Boost OU’s Attendance at Duals: “Desperately Needs It”

The Oklahoma Sooners aren’t having the best wrestling season so far. With a 7-4 overall record, Roger Kish‘s squad is having a hard time finding its footing. To make matters worse, the OU wrestling fans haven’t also been at the top of their motivation game. Considering how vocal support from the fans can be the major driving force behind a team’s success on the mat, one industry expert believes that OU should resort to innovative ideas to get their fans to rally around them.

The Sooners have averaged 975 attendees per dual this season, making it evident that the fanbase hasn’t been holding their ground in the cheer squad’s corner. But there might be a way to alter the situation, and an expert thinks so! How, you say? By taking a hint or two from Cleveland, of course!

A tip to kick-start your cheer squad etiquette 101

2021 NWMA Wrestling Journalist of the Year Seth Duckworth posted on X on February 6 about how the Sooners can get more wrestling fans to hit the stands at the McCasland Field House. Sharing how the Cleveland State Vikings devised a brilliant plan to fill up the Woodling Gym for its duals against Kent State, Duckworth wrote, “Wrestling fans across the country need to be doing this kind of thing yesterday. OU desperately needs it.”

He went on to note that a wrestling-focused booster club doesn’t exist in the country, and could be a brilliant step by OU to get the fans’ attention. “Call it the “Hodge Club” and pregame at local bars before duals. Make it very public and rally new fans,” urged “MatBoy” in the social media post. The Vikings’ “pre-match social hour” and refreshments might look like something alien to the American crowd, but it is considered almost ritualistic for soccer fans in Europe, and the Sooners could benefit immensely from it, the journalist opines.

But while Oklahoma could learn a thing or two to bask in the fans’ support from Cleveland, it should be worth noting that the Vikings are having their own troubles to deal with at the moment. And things don’t look good at all.

Not a great example to idolize

Only recently it came to the fore that CSU is struggling financially and has set the goal to close its $40 million deficit by 2029. To help mitigate the issue, on January 29, the Board of Trustees announced that the university would be axing three programs, including wrestling. Considering this, wrestling fans might conclude that CSU’s pre-game arrangements are a final farewell to the community. However, the same kind of fate does not pervade the country’s other wrestling programs.

It’s dicey. It’s not a fool proof formula that is guaranteed to work every time. If we had to consider fan turnout to be reversely proportional to a team’s performance, then we’ve got to learn a lot from the country’s NCAA wrestling connoisseurs. In a scintillating Big 10 matchup, the Penn State Nittany Lions took on the Iowa Blackhawks. Both teams arrived at the dual with perfect NCAA records, but the Bryce Jordan Center turned out to be the stage where the host had to concede defeat. Penn State lost eight of the 10 bouts and forfeited the matchup to the Hawkeyes who had a thumping score of 30-8 in front of a record 15,998 crowd. One of the biggest and most successful programs in the country, indeed!

Iowa, on the other hand, has shown consistency when it comes to boasting the biggest crowds in the collegiate wrestling circuit. In the 2023-24 season, Hawkeyes saw an average of 14,847 at its home duals (against Penn State’s 7,337 average), making it top the attendance charts for the 17th straight season. But will the Sooners be able to replicate such success with the expert’s advice? Tell us your thoughts below!