Yeah, I see some of the Hawks justifying this crap due to the Midlands cancelling last year as well as saying that the prestige will pick up. Uh, no.
I am assuming the proceeds go to support military veterans, which is obviously great. Northwestern screwed up falling into the pandemic panic as late as Dec 2021 when they cancelled a second time.
That all being said, Midlands has been the best tournament in the Midwest and it only hurts the wrestler's competition and spectators opportunities to watch top level athletes mid-season when Iowa tries to start up a competing tournament against it. While I grew up a Hawkeye fan and still want to support them when not competing against ISU, this current administration makes it really hard to support when they continue to take selfish actions that hurt their role as ambassadors for the sport. Coach Gable was always trying to elevate the sport and promoted the sport outside of Iowa City. I just don't see that out of the current staff and I would be surprised if the Soldier's Salute tournament attracted better competition going head to head against the Midlands when they continue to project the "us against the world" attitude with other NCAA schools. If they moved it to earlier in the season, I think it would have a better chance, but even that is iffy with their perception outside of Iowa City. Their fans keep saying how they live "rent free" in other's minds when people criticize, but in reality they are only hurting their own cause if they expect others outside of Iowa City to support their startup events when they don't reciprocate.
