Gopher Wrestling Training Facility

University of Minnesota

Long a top 10 nationally ranked program winning national team titles three times since 2001, the University of Minnesota wrestling team competes not only nationally but from within the Big Ten Conference for those top honors and the recruits to get them there. An aging training facility located in the basement of the historic Bierman Field Athletic Building, though, began to limit the efforts of the program to remain one of the nation’s best.

Moving out of the outdated space, the new training space repurposed a former basketball training court to put a brighter light on the program, both figuratively and literally. New large windows in the exterior wall floods the space with natural light, bringing energy and life to the history, brotherhood, and brand that populates the space through environmental graphics. A mezzanine designed into the space puts coaches, recruiting, and student-athlete amenities within sight of the training space, with a balcony overlooking the mats and taking in full view of the champions that have come from the program.

Unique in the space is a practice area underneath the mezzanine featuring tiered seating which the team uses for meetings and active coaching sessions. The extra practice area is clean and seamless from the open training area. The space can also be partitioned from the main area to allow visiting teams access to practice mats while maintaining the competitive integrity of the Gopher athletes’ training space.