Trying to stuff Huff

   CHAMPAIGN  If University of Illinois wrestling has an identity crisis locally, it''s news to Mark Johnson.

   "Everywhere I go in this area, people follow it pretty good," said the coach of the sixth-ranked wrestling team in the nation. "They know we''re a good team. They know that good things have happened. They respect the job we''ve done."

   Why, then, have so few actually stepped inside Huff Hall to pay their respects? Why is so much of the public''s knowledge about the Johnson''s fifth-year program  the national rankings, the two individual NCAA champions, the six All-Americans, the 41-17-1 dual-meet record  coming second-hand?

   Why is attendance so meager?

   All questions that the architect of this rising power continues to grapple with.

   "It''s a little frustrating," said Johnson, whose home meets have never attracted more than an average of 572 fans in any season. "We still haven''t drawn those people in as spectators. Why they don''t come out, I don''t know."

   Johnson does, however, have some educated guesses:

The Schedule

It''s difficult to get fans into a routine of attending home matches, he says, when there are so few and they''re so erratically scheduled.

   This season, Illinois will wrestle at Huff just five times. And only one of those was scheduled between their season opener Nov. 23 and mid-January. From Jan. 18-Feb. 1, Illinois has four consecutive home dates. But after that, the Illini are on the road for their last five regular season meets.

   "In wrestling, we''re kind of our own worst enemy a little bit," Johnson admitted. "It''s hard to build up great fans if you''re only competing twice a month (at home) and then once the next month," Johnson said.

   Not that the Illini are alone in this fan-unfriendly scheduling. Most teams are home only five or six times a season, in part because close to one-third of their 16 allowable competitive dates routinely are devoted to multiteam tournaments.

   These tournaments are considered vital by coaches to their wrestlers'' development.

   "To get good competitively for the end of the year  and that''s what our sport''s about  you have to go to these early season tournaments," Johnson said.

   Which means, in the case of Illinois and most other schools, hitting the road. These tournaments are relatively few and well established. Only a handful of schools host these events. And in some cases, such as the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational, there is no host school.

   So why doesn''t Illinois get into the tournament business? Now that Johnson is beyond the time-consuming task of program building, he says he''s exploring that possibility. It wouldn''t be a large tournament because not even the Assembly Hall has the necessary room.

Competition for fans

   The competition for fans'' leisure time is immense and ever-growing. Basketball remains king of the winter sports scene when it comes to attendance and interest. Hockey, gymnastics, swimming and indoor track all tug for the attention of sports fans during the winter.

   "We''re caught in a busy time," Johnson said. "Our whole sport has always fought that."

   What can wrestling do to stand out in this swirl of competition?

   

Self-promotion

   Johnson believes wrestling can have universal appeal, but he said the sport must first market itself to groups that have a built-in interest. Youth wrestlers. Ex-wrestlers. Wrestling coaches. The families and friends of wrestlers.

   "We probably have 500 wrestlers on this campus that have wrestled sometime in their high school or kids'' club days," Johnson said. "They''re going to basketball games and they forget wrestling."

   Johnson also actively courts off-campus groups. The Illini have hosted a Youth Day  every youth wrestling group in the state is invited to attend for free  every year since Johnson''s arrival. And on Jan. 23, a high school match between Mahomet-Seymour and Monticello will be held at Huff Hall before the Illini wrestle Eastern Illinois.

   The presence of the state high school wrestling tournament in Champaign each February offers an audience ripe for the drawing to Huff Hall. Twice in the last three years, Johnson was able to schedule home meets on the Thursday night before the state tournament started. Although the opponents (Valparaiso and Eastern Michigan) were hardly big names, those two dates drew the biggest UI crowds of his tenure  1,234 and 1,028.

   Then there are Johnson''s many speaking engagements.

   "I bring schedules out, and we talk about our meets," Johnson said. "It''s amazing how many people know about it, and I say, ''Come try it, and maybe you''ll like it.'' "

   Illini wrestlers are involved, too, participating in talks to local school children through the Hometown Heroes program.

Scheduling conflict

   Johnson wants to schedule as many of his home matches as possible on weekends.

   "We can''t wrestle on a Thursday night because it just won''t draw well," Johnson said. "It has to be a weekend."

   Usually that means Saturdays because Sundays often are reserved for women''s basketball.

   However, Saturday dates virtually eliminate one large potential audience for the Illini  high school wrestlers and their families.

   "On Saturdays, there''ll be 10 high school tournaments in this immediate area, so a lot of our fans are split and going elsewhere," Johnson said.

Variable venue

   This is one problem Johnson recognized immediately and set about fixing.

   Before Johnson arrived, Illini wrestling fans had to guess where a home meet would be.   Could be Huff Hall. Or Kenney Gym. Or the Assembly Hall. Or even under the Memorial Stadium Bubble.

   "People didn''t know where the meet was going to be," Johnson said. "We will wrestle at Huff Gym. That will be our home."

   Johnson also told UI officials upon taking the job he wanted to begin charging for admission.

   "If you''re not charging to get in, is there really a good product there?" Johnson said. "If I''d have said that first year, ''Well, we''ll start it in a couple years,'' then it''s like, ''Geez, they get good and they want to charge.'' "

History lesson

   Although Illini wrestling crowds certainly remain far below Johnson''s goal, he can take some satisfaction in attendance gains since his arrival.

   "My freshman year, it usually was the immediate family, coaches, friends," recalled Illini senior wrestler Jon Vaughn. "Usually 50 people, maybe 100."

   But even the biggest current draw in collegiate wrestling  Iowa  started from such modest levels. Johnson recalls receiving a letter for Hawkeyes coach Dan Gable during his first season at the UI.

   "(Gable) said, ''Don''t get impatient,'' " Johnson said. "He talked about the crowds his first few years there, when they''d get 50 people at their matches."

   Last season, Iowa averaged 6,758 fans, with a high of 11,769 for a dual against Iowa State.

   "I think just the winning did it," said Johnson, who was Gable''s top assistant from 1982 to ''90. "When you win national championships, people are going to follow you."

   

Big Ten breakdown

   Because several Big Ten teams do not keep track of wrestling attendance, it''s difficult to gauge where Illinois stands among its league peers.

   Iowa is the undisputed top draw, with Penn State a solid but still distant second. Minnesota, with an aggressive marketing campaign, has seen its attendance rise lately.

   Beyond that, though, things get speculative. Johnson says Illinois ranks in the middle of the pack in the league attendance, grouping his program with Michigan and Michigan State.

   There''s no speculation, however, about the impact a visit by Iowa can have on a team''s attendance. On Dec. 6, Penn State''s home meet against the Hawkeyes drew a school-record 11,245 fans. Demand for tickets was so great PSU officials moved the match from its regular site to the school''s basketball arena, the Bryce Jordan Center.

   "We called around, and we think it set a record for a match east of the Mississippi River," Penn State coach John Fritz said.

   Little wonder Johnson is working diligently on arranging a visit by Iowa to the UI next season.

Fond memory

   A visit by Iowa  especially if the legendary Gable is still the Hawkeyes'' coach  easily would be the most marketable home meet of Johnson''s tenure. And presumably the most electric in terms of atmosphere.

   In the meantime, the Illini know how energized Huff Hall can get under special circumstances. The UI''s veteran wrestlers still almost unanimously refer to a match now almost two years passed as their favorite Huff moment.

   "Not necessarily because of the (crowd) numbers," senior heavyweight Seth Brady said, "but just the energy that night."

   The matchup was No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Illinois on Feb. 3, 1995. The crowd was listed at 734 but at times sounded like 7,340 as the Illini pulled off a 19-12 victory.

   "The excitement of the crowd, it definitely adds to your own warm-up," said Vaughn.

   

Fervent hope

   Will UI wrestling ever catch on with spectators the way a few other nonrevenue sports on campus have?

   "I think there''s a big question there," Johnson said. "Sure, the crowds have gotten better since we''ve been here, but we still haven''t had the consistent couple thousand people like volleyball has. We still have a long way to go, I think, to get respectable crowds."

   So, the effort continues. The promotions. The speeches. And especially the building of a program that Johnson hopes one day can crack Iowa''s stranglehold on the sport.

   "I feel like I''m doing my part," Johnson said. "My part''s to put a competitive team out there. When the people come, they''ll see a good team."

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