NCAAs big business for State College area

By CHRIS ANTONACCI
Collegian Staff Writer

Troy Sunderland's inbox has been full lately.

From across the country the emails and phone calls just keep on coming to his office located in The Bryce Jordan Center, the venue which will host the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships for the first time in Happy Valley since Rec Hall played host in 1968. The tournament will take place today, tomorrow and Saturday.

"I was still getting calls (yesterday) morning," the first-year coach said.

And there seems to be one thing on the minds of those fans -- tickets. They do not have any, but they want them. But those fans are out of luck -- Sunderland does not have any to give away.

Make no mistake about it -- this is one big event.

Tickets have been sold out since they became available, Athletic Ticket Director Bud Meredith said.

"The demand has been unbelievable," Meredith said. "In essence, we were sold out since September. We are almost a solid sellout for all sessions."

Last year about 6,000 seats were sold for the Big Ten Championships, also held at the Jordan Center. However, there was competition that weekend as the PIAA State Wrestling Championships were being held in Harrisburg.

While 80 percent of the tickets for NCAAs had been distributed to the participating universities, Penn State found itself with 16 percent of the total tickets, Meredith said.

He also said this is the third-largest total attendance in NCAA Wrestling Championships history.

And no one will benefit more from the expected 80,000 witnesses of the three-day event than businesses within the Centre Region.

From coaches, wrestlers, friends, family, fans and media members the quantity demanded for accommodations, food and entertainment is going to go through the roof.

"There's people walking around and using other outlets," said Lizz Dodd, a front office manager at the Days Inn Penn State, 240 S. Pugh St. "This is bigger than most football weekends because it's so many days in a row."

The Days Inn is booked with about 75 percent of its rooms occupied by 24 wrestling teams, Dodd said. She said the NCAA reserved the rooms for the wrestlers more than a year ago.

In addition to hotels in the Centre Region benefiting from the championships, local restaurants should also see an increase in customers.

"The way the schedules are set up, the breaks will be held during the times we are not usually busy," said David Weaver, general manager of The Corner Room, 100 W. College Ave. "I believe all of the wrestling clientele is well on their way to eating and drinking."

And Norm Brown, proprietor of the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., is also excited about the influx of wrestling fans into the area. After all, because most of the people who will attend the championships are from across the country, Brown hopes they will want to take some Penn State memorabilia home with them as a souvenir. Brown said one of the potential popular items will be the official championships T-shirt.

"We're real excited about it," Brown said. "Anytime you sell out the Jordan Center, it should be good for business. I think it will be great."

For good reason.

"Pennsylvania is a real hotbed for wrestling," Meredith said. "And this is the only game in town."