Gopher Wrestling fans,
Welcome to another year of Gopher Wrestling! We are excited to have a fun home dual schedule that should provide some great atmosphere as we host Bucknell, Campbell, Michigan, Rutgers, Purdue and Iowa. The team starts the season ranked 9th in the country with all 10 projected starters ranked, 8 of them in the top 15 in the country. This will be an exciting year for Minnesota Wrestling!
Takedown Club Membership
We are excited that we were able to maintain the price of TDC memberships. The NCAA increased their ticket pricing so as a result we had to increase ticket pricing as well. Reminder that a TDC membership is required to request NCAA tickets. The money from these memberships helps pay for renting space and providing light apps and refreshments at TDC socials. Benefits of TDC membership include Discounted Group NCAA Hotel Rates, Tournament Ticket Seating For NCAA, Entrance to NCAA Social, Entrance to Home match Takedown Club Socials. The TDC membership form is attached.
NCAA Tickets
The NCAA adjusted their ticket policy this season, so we don't know exactly what to expect this season. We should have a better idea of our NCAA ticket allotment by the middle of November. We may have a limited number of tickets available so I encourage those interested in attending to complete their ticket requests promptly.
Reminder that due to the change in our ticket policy , you will no longer be able to roll over your money to following year if unable to use your NCAA tickets you ordered. We will work with you in trying to find a home for your ticket, but if unable to resell the ticket we would not refund money or transfer the balance to the following year. You would be responsible for the cost associated to your unused ticket. If you submit a request for NCAA tickets and we are unable to fulfill your request, you would be refunded the cost of tickets but not the cost of your TDC membership. We don’t find out what specific seats we have until mid-February and we assign seats and e-mail tickets at that time.
While we would love to accommodate every TDC member with the best seat in the building, unfortunately we are at the mercy of the NCAA as far as what seats they assign to us and how many are lower bowl seats. The majority of the lower bowl seats go to coaches and wrestlers' families as well as major donors. Some of the things we consider when determining seat placements include; Major Donors($5,000 plus), Season Tickets Holders – Length of the Individual (not group) holding, Gopher Team Alumni, Gopher Wrestling Club Monthly Donor, current Gopher/Family, Staying with the Gopher Takedown Club host hotel and the date your request/payment was received. Please review the attached ticket policy for a more detailed explanation of how tickets are assigned. *All lower bowl seating is subject to change depending availability, if not enough lower bowl seating is available you will be placed in the next best available seating.
NCAA Hotel
In order to secure a group block of Hotel rooms, our TDC has to commit to being able to fulfill a certain percentage of those rooms each night. If we do not fulfill the minimum number of rooms, we still have to pay for them. It is strongly encouraged that you stay within our group block as it is a major help to our club. Reminder this is also where the NCAA social will take place.
Home Match Takedown Club Socials
November 15- Bucknell- Social Starts at 5:00pm, Dual starts at 7:00pm
November 24- Campbell- Dual starts at 1:00pm, Social follows dual roughly 3:00pm
January 19-Michigan- Dual starts at 1:00pm, Social follows dual roughly 3:00pm
February 2-Rutgers- Dual starts at 12:00pm, Social follows dual roughly 2:30pm (Senior Recognition after the dual)
February 9-Purdue- Dual starts at 1:00pm, Social follows dual roughly 3:00pm
February 14-Iowa- Social Starts at 5:30pm, Dual starts at 8:00pm
-All Socials will be at Blarney's Pub in Dinkytown
Thank You
Thank you all for your understanding and continued support of The Gopher Takedown Club and Minnesota Wrestling. Our program is fortunate to have such a strong Booster Club and passionate fan base. We would not be where we are as a program without you! The guys have put in a ton of work this offseason and I think we are in store for an exciting season! Hopefully see you all at our Open Practice on October 25th in our wrestling room at 6:30pm!
Please complete and return your TDC membership and ticket request by October 31, 2024. If you have any questions please reach out to me at arnol856@umn.edu or 507-828-1662.
Cody Arnold
TDC President