Just thought that I know a lot of people who couldn't make it this year and might like a little review of the Qwest. Here are some things that I noticed.

1) A pile of gatorades and other drinks by one of the side doors because you are not allowed to take drinks or any food in with you.
2) A slice of pizza (yes one slice) costs $7. They say it's a quarter of a small pizza. That makes a small pizza $28!
3) There are NO frosty malts!
4) Schools can't hang banners but the press CAN! There ARE banners hanging below the press box!
5) It's nice to have assigned seats. No fighting for best seating.
6) I really don't mind paying for parking and it seems that everyone is getting a space.
7) Because you can get on the interstate 1/2 block for the Qwest, there is NO traffic congestion at all (on the main entrance side anyway). The school vans might be having a problem but someone else will have to answer that.

also the guy on the concorse by the concession stand telling people to go to there seats becuase we cant have the concorse crowded but yet 90 % of the people were in line getting food must not be like the devaney were you can socialize at the qwest you gotta get to your seats

hey thanks alot for the info on the qwest center. i sorry to say had to miss this years state wrestling do to my duties as a soldier in iraq. i wish i could be there right now. i try to get on everynight to see what is new in husker wrestling. and i am calling home to talk to my family like everynight now that state wrestling is going on. thanks again for the info.

Oh yea! A volleyball tournament is scheduled the same day as the Nebraska State Wrestling FINALS! There will be 321 teams in attendance. Appears to be a scheduling conflict - mere oversight I'm sure. MECA obviously doesn't know the size of the wrestling family reunion on this day!

I bet they let you drink at the youth volleyball meet. LOL

Creighton plays basketball at 11pm tonight. That is crazy late for a college b-ball game.

i loved it at the Qwest... unlike at the Devaney it was very easy for the coaches to get to the mats unlike the 5 minute walk from the top of Devaney all the way around lol. lots of sitting space, comfortable seats...if yer a really big guy they are tight. great view of the mat from any seat....i would know our team had ppl in every corner, bowl, area in the building.

do i miss devaney, nope...lets keep it here.

i still think that there was just something missing that the devaney had there was just that feeling saying that it just wasnt as good. But i agree we need to keep it here for multiple reasons and hopefully next year it will get that feeling.

felt just like devaney to me....except having to park in the mud or sit on the pop encrusted, sticky cement "seats" at the top of the devaney.

I also liked how we didn't have to stand in line outside... Worked out very nice considering the weather

The floor is the best for the wrestlers!

Everything else is the worst for everyone concerned$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!

From the attendance thread, some are posting there on this topic also!

Mikey,
I know you have been in favor of moving this tournament from Lincoln to Omaha for a long time and you are entitled to your opinon but for you to post here "14,181 to be exact" is very misleading to those that were not in attendance.
The only way you got 14,181 people in there was if you were counting the coaches, wrestlers, NSAA folks, the concession workers, the media and maybe even they counted the VOLLEYBALL attendance that was going on right next to the tournament.
I would say they may have sold that many tickets but NO WAY WAS THERE 14,000 PLUS in the place. There were empty seats every where. In the section I was in there was at least 5% vacancy rates. And to further prove my point I went from the east side to the west side, walked down to ROW 1 and watched the last round and could have done it in the 1st round (Fiday night and also todays 3rd and 5th place matches)

MECCA/Qwest made the annoucement so fans would tell there friends and the media it was a record just like they do at Husker Basketball games and most other sporting evets and nothing more!

I will say a few other things here, on both sides of the venue.

1. I heard from several coaches that enjoyed and like the place but I also talked to a couple that either did not like it or had mixed feeling. My thought is if the majority of the coaches like it, it will have GREAT shot at staying here. At the same time a lady that I visited with who has some NSAA connection said if the alchohol is not removed it will not be back. Having said that I saw no sign of alchohol or any one saying any thing negative about it being there.

2. All the talk about 8 FULL MATS, I saw 2 full mats NOT 8!

3. More room for scorers tables/being away from the mats! NOT! no way no how. As I sat in row 1 (not my assigned seat in the 14,000 plus crowd) I saw numerous times where coaches/obvservers grabbing the pedestal score boards to keep them from getting knocked over as guys were being thrown around. NICE JOBS GUYS on doing that as you probably saved someone SERIOUS INJURY as they were warming up in the NOT CORWDED AREA BEHIND THE TABLES!

4. 2 pops, 1 slice (big I will admit) pizza, 1 chili cheese dog last night for a total of $19.50, OUCH.

5. Lighting was so so, especially in the concourse levels!

Now the ATTA BOYS

1. Parking was very good for the most part all though last nigh in the 14,000 people crowd they had several lots shut off/reserved and they were not even 25% full and of course they were the close ones. As stated earlier the $6.00 to park was a none issue. And the Police (cow killers) were out in force and I felt very safe in BIG BAD OMAHA, and felt my vehicle was very safe in the lots, they are well lit, the side walks were cleard of snow and ice, and you could get in and out of the lots with relative ease. I would rate parking as an A PLUS!

2. Sight lines were GREAT, I could see from every where I ventured, end of the arena, upper bowl, lower bowl, and of course from row 1 in a packed house! More on this in a bit though.

3. Seating for coaches and teams, VERY VERY NICE, although it seemed access to this area while it was suppose to be checked by attendants seemed very lax. 1 ex wresrler I know threw his shorts, old warm up jacket from a national team and his wrestling shoes on and walked right on down! I applaud the guy for it and am not banging on him at all, (you know who I am speaking of Dad).

4. Bathroom facilities were kept extremely clean, no way the BOB could od it as well!

5. The warm up area I understand was much larger than the BOB's, although I did hear it was a bit chilly! Now if there was not a 200 team volleyball match going on at the same time they could have had mats in that connecting area just like they did for the BIG 12'S last year (with what 5 teams) instead of under the bleachers.

6. NSAA presence, they were much more visible, accessabile, and seemed to be right on the spot when ever requested.

All in all I thought the MECCA folks did a commendable job!

But the jury is still out in my opinon.

Oh I forgot to mention the Ticketmaster price I paid. My $6.00 a piece tickets I got via the web site, with handling charges, etc. were $12.00 each not $6.00. But hey I got better seats than what the school got for Thursday all day, and Friday up to the semis!


Well that is it for now, I will give it some more thought and wait for other posts before coming back.

Once again NO WAY 14,000!

Hey Ross do you have little black circles around your eyes from that LONG DISTANCE VIEW YOU HAD? I just could not find my way up there and the ushers had no idea what I was talking about when I asked!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hawk, February 18, 2006 07:34 PM

Ok. The facilities were ok.

Parking was ok but I think $6 is too much, the poor people that were taking the money for parking were not dressed for the weather and two of the 4 times I parked they ran out of ones for change.

Food was outragously expensive. Insultingly so. $3 for a hotdog. $7 for a big slice of pizza. It was highway robber on a captive audience. They really must do something about this. This is a highchool event with families attending that are forced to stay there for hours at a time.

Oh and one last thing. The seats was horibly crampt. I'm only 5'10" and my knees were jammed into the seat in front of me. It was very hard to move past someone to get to your seat. It is worse then a Nebraska football game.

Site lines were ok but not perfect. We were in one corner and we couldn't see the mat on the far end but on the same side of the arena.

All in all from a parents point of view I liked the facilities in Lincoln much better. My biggest gripe is with the cost of everything. They must either allow people to bring in bags or cut prices in half. (you know they won't lower prices so...)

For those of you who could not attend here is a view from the upper bowl on friday night...

As far as the coach's area being a little lax on checking people, I thought it was outrageous. I am the head coach of my team and although I am 20 years old, each and every time i walked through the coach's area I was checked when I entered the area and also as I left the area to enter the floor. I think the space behind the scorer's table was just fine compared to Devaney, but I'm not going to argue that with you since I am guessing you have never been on the floor, just the first row... I will agree with you, the warm up area and areas surrounding the floor level were a tad chilly, but taking in account the doors to that level constantly opening and the very chilly temperatures I am not going to complain. I think the tournament ran very well, I guess my fans and kids ate before we went to the tournament, and then waited until the end of the session to go eat agian, so we were not affected by the prices, however being a school with the EASE of parking, I guess I took advantage of it. I'm nearly 6' tall, and 240 lbs. and I don't understand what you all expect out of the seats in such a facility, if you are looking for ultimate comfort, the only suggestion I have is to fork out about $50k, and you and your friends can sit up in a suite, but I was more comfortable in those CLEAN seats then I have ever been at Devaney. But hey, this is just my 2 cents...

i thought the lower bowl seats werent too bad compared to the upper bowl i was on the end in both bowls so i had to move every time that someone wanted through and down below it seemed a little more roomy than up top

As a wrestler's competing during state i noticed some bad/good aspects about the Quest Center:
Bad- 1. it was cold when weighing in and it was cold inside the build...
2. it took awhile for me getting to the bottom level to the main floor because they locked the doors to the starways and i had to take the elevator which took forever.
3. the food prices were ridiculous...gatorade $2.50!!!COME ON
Good- awesome facilities, locker rooms, scales, warm up mats, well organized and nice seating for wrestlers that didn't make finals to sit and watch and can't beat the Dip N' Dots...yum

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red Rocker,

Also as a wrestler (and spectator)
-I would also have to say when weighing in it was cold and the seating for wrestlers was right below the vents which was blasting cold air instead of warm air
-Prices were very ridiculous
-Seating was good(have to say there isn't a bad seat in the house)
Other then those little issues id have to say i thought the tourney was fantastic and full of energy and good atmosphere from the beginning.

HEY people have we forgot about 911!!! I have but the security has'nt forgot. My wifes bag was searched every day. They found nothing I mean nothing no money nothing just delayed us a little thats OK I was'nt standing out side freezing you know what.
The parking was great never had any problems till my brother paid to park and when they found out it was for the wrestling tourn. made him leave the parking lot cause that was for vollyball parking only NO SIGNS at all. So he was almost late to watch my son wrestle that was'nt good!!!! Really I loved it in Omaha I thought it was a litlle rusty for the first year but it will improve. HEY did any one see the security guy take that kid out of the stadium with the beach ball damn that goes back in history with the beach ball's what the heck is that going to hurt. I think Security needs to become more laid back.Really I liked the QWEST however id fire some security officers think they been watching COPS on Court TV.

I personally had a great time at the state tournament. i never had a problem seeing the mats or finding a parking spot. The only complaints i have for the meet is that i really didnt see the main points they were selling the qwest on. There was all this talk about saftey, but to me it didnt seem like there was that much more room between the mats and scores tables. The biggest Jaw dropper for me was that during the finals they didnt have any extra padding around the edge of the mat and numerous times people ended up on the cement floors!!!! i do not understand this at all after all the preaching that went about the safety of the wrestlers! To me that just seems asinine. they raise all this noise about the devany not being safe and then are perfectly content with letting wrestlers get smacked in the head by the cement floor. Also, It didnt feel like devany, but after the last 30 years or whatever of it being at devany, nothing would feel like it. i thought the qwest really lacked the atmosphere that usually was there on friday night. I think it may be just a little too wide open to create that electric atmosphere that has been present in the past. Just me humble thoughts and imputs. let me know if anyone else understands what I'm saying the cement around the mats or if i was mistaking.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Red Rocker,