The 38,000-square-foot facility opened on May 30, 2024 and is the new training home of the Iowa men’s and women’s wrestling programs. The wrestling room on the south end of the building is connected by underground tunnel to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, recognized as one of the best wrestling venues in the world.

The $31 million training center was funded entirely by donations through the Carver Circle campaign. The wrestling room is named in honor of Bob and Kathy Nicolls. The building is named in honor of Doug and Ann Goschke. Both families are among the hundreds of contributors who support Iowa wrestling.

The two-level building features a Hall of Champions that pays homage to the history of Iowa wrestling. The main entrance welcomes visitors with trophy displays celebrating Iowa’s All-Americans and national champions. The lower level includes locker rooms for the men’s and women’s teams, while the upper level houses student-athlete lounges and coaches’ offices that overlook the wrestling room.

The facility’s largest space, the Bob and Kathy Nicolls Wrestling Room, features 30-foot-high ceilings with nearly twice as much practice space as the former wrestling room. An adjacent strength and conditioning room on the lower level flows seamlessly into the wrestling room.

The underground tunnel that connects the two facilities serves as a gateway from the training center to the arena, where both programs will continue to compete in front of sold-out audiences.

Hawkeye wrestling has been an international brand since 1973, when former Iowa head coach Dan Gable started the Hawkeye Wrestling Club to provide the training, coaching, and resources necessary to help postgraduates pursue their dreams of becoming world and Olympic champions.

That standard of success has existed for more than 50 years. Originally housed in the UI Field House, Gable’s teams moved into Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 1983. The wrestling room was renovated in 2010, and an investment in the new facility represents the university’s commitment to two storied programs. The Iowa men have won 24 NCAA team titles and continue to represent the Hawkeye state at the international level. Former Hawkeye Spencer Lee won a silver medal at the the 2024 Paris Olympics as the 20th Hawkeye to represent Iowa's men's wrestling program and Team USA on the Olympic stage.  

In 2021, the university announced that Iowa would become the first Division I Power Five school to compete in women’s wrestling. Two and a half years later, the Iowa women joined the elite company of champions by winning the 2024 national championship in their inaugural season. Iowa crowned six individual champions and earned 12 All-America honors. Chun was named USA Wrestling Coach of the Year, and Kylie Welker was named The Open Mat’s NCAA Women’s Wrestler of the Year.  In 2025 the Hawkeyes went back-to-back capturing their second straight NCWWC national championship. Iowa had three individual national champions and 15 all-Americans. Kennedy Blades was named the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament. She was also named the 2025 USA Wreslting Women’s Collegiate Wrestler of the Year. Chun was named the 2024 USA Wrestling Women’s Coach of the Year. 

The new facility extends a decades-long tradition of excellence and will pull new eyes toward Iowa City, which was dubbed Wrestletown, USA, when Carver-Hawkeye Arena first hosted the United States Olympic Wrestling Team Trials in 2012. Carver later hosted the trials in 2016, and then hosted the UWW World Cup in 2018. The university is synonymous around the world with wrestling, and the Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center is emblematic of its commitment to the past, present, and future.