CEDAR FALLS - The signs at each entrance read "No food or drinks beyond this point."

This weekend proved the exception to the rule, at least for the hundreds of wrestlers from across the nation who descended on the UNI-Dome Saturday for the first day of the Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals.

Blue, orange, purple and green coolers dotted the stands as wrestling teams from across the country staked their claim on a small piece of real estate inside the busy Dome. Before and after their matches the teams would sometimes gather in the stands, passing around everything from bagels to sandwich fixings as they tried to keep up their strength while also maintaining their weight.

In some areas Power Bar wrappings and the remnants of fruit cups littered the stands along with the telltale green and orange of numerous paper Gatorade cups. But, sometimes the fruit and sandwiches just weren't enough.

Kyle Bilquist, a heavyweight wrestler from Delaware Valley College, found a quite place in the stands to quickly throw back two slices of pizza and sports drink.

"Being a heavyweight I need the extra carbs in me so I opted for the pizza," the junior said.

And fans seeking food from the concession stands were greeted by more than the usual sports event fare. In addition to the standard pizza, nachos and popcorn, fans could also find bananas, apples, donuts and milk on the front counters.

And when they weren't competing or eating many wrestlers opted to catch a few minutes of sleep before their next match-up. Bilquist, who had taken a short nap before grabbing his pizza, said that aspect of the dual meet was no different than any other daylong event.

"When you're hungry you eat. When you're tired you sleep," he said. And not even the sound of chaos coming from the mats below will wake most seasoned wrestlers. "When you are up at 5 a.m. to make weigh-ins, you can usually sleep just about anywhere."

The wrestlers used everything from equipment bags and their hooded sweatshirts as pillows and blankets as they made themselves as comfortable as possible on the cold, hard cement of the Dome floor or the thin benches of the bleachers.

Brian Borchers, a senior heavyweight wrestler from Wartburg College, said the extra body heat from just finishing a match also makes it a little easier to fall asleep despite the extra noise. However, when sleep isn't coming, Borchers has found that reading will help calm his mind and body enough to finally doze off. Saturday he had found a place in the northwest stands where he could put his focus on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

"You probably won't find many wrestlers doing this," he said, of his reading habit. "I don't have a lot of time for leisure reading and sometimes it's nice. I'll have the rest of the day to watch what's going on and wrestle. The biggest thing is just conserving energy."

Borchers expected to sleep a bit before wrestling again at 1 p.m. - Wartburg won its first match against University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and faced Olivet in the second round - but never appeared to put down the book.

Ohio Northern University wrestler Drew Michel was doing a bit of reading of his own, but his topic wasn't nearly as enjoyable as Borchers'. Michel was studying for a history final that counted for half of his final grade. He had found a small spot underneath the bleachers, just far enough out of the way that he wasn't trampled by other teams who were trying to stay warm before their match.

"I have to," he said. "If it wasn't such an important test I would be out watching these other guys wrestle. It's cool to be around these big names in wrestling."

That's half the fun of a national event like the duals. Former Ohio Northern wrestler Mike Farr of Swisher spent his day cheering on his the team from his alma mater, who lost in the first round to No. 5 Luther College and his current passion, the Iowa Hawkeyes, who handily took down Cornell University in their first round.

"I expect one of my teams to win this," Farr said of the Hawkeyes. "There are a lot of quality kids here from across the country in all three divisions. They didn't have this kind of event when I was in college. You never got to wrestle against an Augsburg or Wartburg until nationals."

But, it was Brad Fortune, an Iowa fan from Atkins, who likely summed it up for everyone.

"This is a wrestling fan's dream," he said.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.