March 19, 2025
Philadelphia isn't a newcomer when it comes to hosting premier college sports events and that continues on this week with the NCAA men's wrestling championships at the Wells Fargo Center.
Running from Thursday through Saturday, the championships will be heavy on local ties as well as fervent fan bases that expand well beyond the greater Philadelphia area.
Among the 330 athletes competing in the events, Pennsylvania will have the greatest amount of wrestlers represented by home state with 40.
Had to show the trophy around 🙂↕️#NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/xTD8N757Wc
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 18, 2025
Penn and Drexel will be the two Philly schools competing and acting as hosts. The greatest local connection, however, is Penn State, which is going for its 13th championship and fourth in a row. That's the stuff of legend.
"Truly historic," Wells Fargo Center General Manager Mike Sulkes said about the Nittany Lions' run. "It's Alabama football. It's Duke basketball."
It's not just about Philly and Pennsylvania at large though.
"[It's] schools from all over the country with great fan bases and that’s what makes it special," Sulkes said.
That checks out. The tickets that were made available to the public for the event sold out in just a couple of hours. Expect fans from these local schools to be there, but this extends across the country, too.
"That’s the whole championship atmosphere," Sulkes continued. "You’re bringing together all these different fan bases under one roof in one city."
That's the goal of the Wells Fargo Center, Sulkes said.
"The diversity of events in our calendar is imperative and not just for sports," he said, emphasizing that they want to hit "every demo" and how it's "important to be the cultural hub of Philadelphia."
That cultural hub isn't limited to just the Wells Fargo Center this week. There will be a fan fest next door at Lincoln Financial Field for those who weren't able to land tickets to the championships themselves. That'll include free wrestling clinics, autograph sessions and more.
Additionally, Xfinity Live! will be open to the public and will have the ESPN broadcast of the championships going for all three days from Thursday through Saturday as well for those wanting to get in on the action. With over 100,000 attendees expected to come to this city for the event, plan accordingly.
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