UNO coach Mike Denney manned the tape measure, making sure there was the perfect amount of space between the mats and the stands.

Wrestlers from both UNO and Nebraska worked the floor at Qwest Center Omaha, pushing and pulling together that massive puzzle of padding.

The 2010 NCAA Division I wrestling championships were still 48 hours away, and already on Tuesday morning the atmosphere inside the city’s downtown arena felt intense.

A small army of workers buzzed about, making sure that the Qwest Center was ready to host yet another high-profile celebration of sport. Event organizers chattered back and forth, all of them happy to have the Mavericks and Huskers making sure that center stage was up to snuff.

“Having both of those wrestling teams here was a huge help,” said Stan Benis, the Qwest Center’s director of event operations. “Our guys probably could’ve figured those mats out, but they know all the little details and know how to get everything just right.”

And rest assured, officials said, all of the necessary pieces will be in place come Thursday, when Omaha becomes the center of the college wrestling universe.

When it comes to collegiate athletics, the NCAA’s Randy L. Buhr — who has overseen the wrestling championships for the past decade — calls this three-day event “the beast of all beasts.”

It’s easy to see why.

There will be 330 wrestlers here representing 77 schools. There will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 workers — be they full-time, part-time or volunteer — making sure everything that needs to get done gets done. The NCAA issued 270 media credentials for the event, and that doesn’t include the additional 110 men and women who will help ESPN televise the championships.

Then there are all of those fans, who will show up 16,000 strong for each of this weekend’s six sold-out sessions.

“Of our 88 NCAA championships, it’s one of the most — if not the most — difficult events we put on,” said Buhr, the NCAA’s associate director of championships. “Just the volume of people who are involved, and all the moving parts, and eight mats going simultaneously — it’s kind of like organized chaos. It really takes a lot to pull this off.”

Fortunately, by no means is this the first rodeo for the University of Nebraska and the Omaha Sports Commission. Both entities have an extensive history of hosting NCAA championships. That’s made everything this week go smoothly, Benis and Butch Hug agreed, as this event debuts at the Qwest Center.

“This is a big one, and there are a lot of challenges,” said Hug, Nebraska’s associate athletic director for facilities and events. “But I think that past experience definitely helps a lot, and I’m comfortable with where we are at this point.”

When the event opens on Thursday, wrestlers will compete on eight brand-new mats, ones colored blue, black or green. They were provided for the NCAA through its partnership with Resilite, a leading manufacturer of athletic mats and padding.

Come Saturday night, all the action will take place on a single mat placed atop an elevated stage at the center of the arena. Following the event, the NCAA and Resilite will donate that championship mat, valued at $10,000, to Omaha’s King Science Magnet Middle School for use by its wrestling team.

“We’re really excited to have this event in Omaha, and I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere here this weekend,” Buhr said. “There’s obviously a lot of interest in wrestling in the greater Omaha area, and I think it’s great that there are so many schools located near Omaha that have a rich history of success in the sport.”

2008 was the year of sports in Omaha, and the direct economic impact to the City of Omaha and State of Nebraska from the three athletic events sponsored by the Omaha Sports Commission (OSC) is estimated at $29,340,000. Two of the state’s leading economists – Dr. Ernie Goss of Creighton University and Dr. Eric Thompson of the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln—conducted a study of the economic impact of the NCAA Men’s Division 1 First and Second Round Basketball Tournament, U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming, and NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championships.

The Olympic Swim Trials also provided the City of Omaha an additional $97 million in national/international media exposure from coverage of the Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha ($23.9 million), and media exposure of Omaha during the Beijing Olympics ($73.8 million).

Key study findings of each sporting event include the following.
Olympic Swim Trials (Eight-Day Event)
• More than 95,000 tickets were sold to out-of-state visitors, who came from an estimated 36 states and seven foreign countries.
• Swim Trials fans spent more than $6.9 million on lodging, food and beverages.
• The Olympic Swim Trials generated more than $1.3 million in state and local tax collections.

NCAA Regional Basketball Tournament (Two-Day Event)
• More than 21,000 tickets were sold to out-of-state visitors.
• Basketball fans spent more than $1.1 million on lodging, food and beverages.
• More than $256,000 was collected in state and local taxes.

NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship (Two-Day Event)
• More than 2,600 tickets were sold to out-of-state visitors.
• Volleyball fans spent nearly $440,000 on lodging, food and beverages.
• Nearly $184,000 was collected in state and local taxes.

Harley Schrager, chairman of the Omaha Sports Commission board of directors, said the economic impact figures demonstrate the important role the OSC plays in supporting Omaha and the State of Nebraska.

“2008 was a great year for sports in Omaha and has elevated our city to a new and higher level of national prominence when it comes to hosting great sporting events,” Schrager said. “The OSC has worked very hard to make Omaha one of America’s leading amateur sports cities, and we are proud of the numerous contributions we have made to the local and state economies.”

“While the direct economic impacts of the amateur sporting events that we examined were quite impressive, the spillover or indirect impacts were even more noteworthy once again putting Omaha in the national spotlight. I expect these impacts to grow in future years as the city’s support businesses expand to meet the rising demand,” Dr. Goss said.
“The surge in spending at area restaurants, stores and hotels during these three events was an important contribution to the local businesses,” Dr. Thompson said.

Harold Cliff, president of the Omaha Sports Commission, said the tremendous media exposure Omaha received in 2008 was almost as valuable as the direct economic benefits to the city and state.

“The Olympic Swim Trials was broadcast live on NBC four nights and the USA Network an additional four nights, and Omaha’s name was prominently mentioned throughout the Beijing Olympic coverage,” Cliff said. “In addition, NCAA basketball games were carried live on CBS and the NCAA volleyball championships were live on ESPN. The national and international media exposure Omaha received in 2008 will pay numerous dividends to our city for years to come.”

Cliff noted the report does not include the economic impact to Omaha of the annual NCAA College World Series. That event is not sponsored by the Omaha Sports Commission.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha hockey team and the Omaha Sports Commission will team up to host Division I college hockey’s season-opening “Mutual of Omaha Icebreaker” on October 9 and 10 at Qwest Center Omaha.The tournament will kick off the first week of the Mavericks’ 13th season of play.

“The Mutual of Omaha Icebreaker will be one of the marquee events on the college hockey calendar this year, and we’re honored to host it in conjunction with the Omaha Sports Commission and Mutual of Omaha,” said Associate Athletic Director Mike Kemp. “Fans in Omaha will see teams they don’t often see, teams that are some of the best in Division I.”

“Mutual of Omaha has been a long-standing and valued supporter of UNO athletics,” said Trev Alberts, UNO’s Director of Athletics. “We are pleased that it is lending its support to this great event, one that should energize hockey fans for the season ahead.”

St. Lawrence University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Army will all take part in the Icebreaker. The Mavericks will face Army in the second game of the first day of the tournament at 7:05 p.m. The winners and losers of each game will advance to play one another on day two at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Qwest Center Omaha.

“The Omaha Sports Commission is proud and excited to explore new cooperative ventures with UNO,” said Harold Cliff, President of the Omaha Sports Commission. “We think this tournament will be the launching pad for many events to come.”

Tickets for the 2009 “Mutual of Omaha Icebreaker” are on sale now through the UNO athletic ticket office in the Sapp Fieldhouse. They may be ordered by phone at (402) 554-MAVS. Tickets are $24 for center ice, $15 for all other lower bowl seats and $12 for the upper bowl.

Season tickets for UNO hockey are on sale now through the UNO athletic ticket office. For more information or to order, call (402) 554-MAVS.

State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha was behind getting $250,000 for the U.S. Olympic Trials, so few on Wednesday might have taken as much satisfaction on seeing one pool completed and another started inside Qwest Center Omaha.

News media members were invited Wednesday to see the progress inside the Qwest Center for the first time since work began May 12.Ashford introduced LB 1052 last winter, which, when later passed by the Legislature, shifted money from the State Visitors Promotion Cash Fund to the city of Omaha for promotion of the 2008 Olympic Trials. Ashford said it was the first time there has been direct appropriations of that magnitude to an event, not a facility.

“I’m hoping in the next four to eight years we can attract additional events and the state will always be a partner,” Ashford said, standing about halfway between the filling of the warmup pool in the convention center and the framework of the competition pool in the arena.

News media members were invited Wednesday to see the progress inside the Qwest Center for the first time since work began May 12. Both pools will be completed before the four-day Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational starts June 5, to be followed by the Olympic Trials on June 29 through July 6.

Starting in 1993 with the state’s investment in renovation of Civic Auditorium, Ashford said there has been a slow-growing awareness that funds for events facilities would only benefit the state. He pointed to the Qwest Center as well as convention centers in Lincoln and Grand Island.He said that likely helped get LB 1052 passed.

“This event is clearly in the line of appropriations that the state has made into making Nebraska an events-centric state,” Ashford said. “Because we’re not gaining population, we have to find new ways to bring people into the state, and events such as this are clearly consistent with that mission and that vision. And the state has, and I predict will continue, to invest in these facilities and these events.”

Dan Morrissey, president of the Omaha Sports Commission, said the $250,000 goes toward “budget relief in general” for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Ashford said those behind the Olympic Trials — Morrissey, chief operating officer Harold Cliff, chairman Harley Schrager and others — “came down to Lincoln and really sold my colleagues in the state Legislature on the idea of this meet and this event as being a significant contributor to our economy.” The impact will include an estimated 10,000 people coming to Omaha for the Olympic Trials and accounting for more than 20,000 hotel nights.

Ashford also said the Department of Economic Development also has been helpful in other kinds of assistance.

“This is not a passive investment,” Ashford said. “This is an active involvement by the Department of Economic Development and the governor in making this happen. In some states, one would think, ‘Well, big deal.’ But in Nebraska, it’s taken us 15 years — and the building of the Qwest Center, I guess — to get to the point where our Legislature and the governor are looking at these kinds of events and these kind of facilities as being economic engines. It’s part of economic development.”

Workers from Myrtha Pools and DWR Construction had the Omaha Fire Department pumping the first of a million gallons into the warmup pool in Exhibit Hall A on Wednesday. The framework inside the arena gave the first glimpse of how the 50-meter pool would fit in the venue best known for housing Creighton basketball, UNO hockey and concerts.

“For many months, all of us have been asked how we are going to put a swimming pool — two swimming pools, Olympic-sized — in the Qwest Center,” Schrager said. “Now you see first-hand the marvel of this temporary construction.”

A late addition to the arena pool was 12 truckloads of sand. Cliff said it would go 3 inches deep and fill the gaps between the steel strappings so they wouldn’t show once the blue matting was laid over it. Purely cosmetic.

“It’s all about TV,” Cliff said. “We weren’t going to do it at first.”

NOTES: Pool temperatures ultimately will be 80 degrees in the arena and 81 in the warmup pool. It had a long way to go Wednesday. “It’s a little cold right now,” said Trevor Tiffany, president of Myrtha Pools USA. “It’s about the same temperature as the North Sea in England.” . . . Mayor Fahey was among those taking part in a ceremonial panel signing on the arena pool. . . . News media credential requests have hit 230 for the Olympic Trials. . . . Organizers have scheduled a free June 28 open house for people wanting to see the pools and setup inside the Qwest Center.

Myrtha Pools of Italy provided the components for the Swim Trials competition pool, depicted in this artist’s rendering, and a warm-up pool that will be assembled starting Monday in the Qwest Center.Pacing and checking his watch like an expectant father, Harold Cliff waited for a special delivery outside the Qwest Center Omaha on Thursday morning.

Soon, six semitrailer trucks rumbled north on 10th Street past the chief operating officer of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials. The delivery? Pieces for two swimming pools that, when assembled, will hold a combined 2 million gallons of water.

Pool Facts 

• Manufacturer: Myrtha Pools of Italy
• Size: Arena pool is 50 meters long, 10 lanes wide, 3 meters deep, holds 1 million gallons of water and weighs approximately 8 million pounds. (The L-shape warm-up pool is larger.)
• Construction: Stainless steel sides and framework with laminated surface
• First use: 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials at Qwest Center Omaha
• Companion: pool An L-shaped warm-up pool
• Largest pieces: End walls, three segments covering 25 meters; 2-meter-wide stainless steel side panels
• Water supply: Pools will be filled by Omaha Fire Department
• Installation: Five to eight days before water is added
• Workers: Twenty from Myrtha Pools and DWR Construction, of California. “That’s a lot of pool,” Cliff said.

And it was a long journey. The panels, pipes and myriad boxes were shipped 5,000 miles from the Myrtha Pools factory in Genoa, Italy, to the back doors of the convention center.

Assembly of the competition and warm-up pool puzzles starts Monday, when 20 workers from Myrtha and California-based DWR Construction Inc. begin a run of 16-hour work shifts. Also involved will be Qwest Center employees and local electricians and plumbers.

The delivery – by ship, train and trailer – was carried out by Werner Enterprises and included a half-dozen containers, each weighing around 30,000 pounds.

“It’s just a real mixed bag of stuff,” said Craig Stoffel, Werner’s vice president for global logistics.

Cliff wouldn’t even hazard to guess how many pieces were in that mixed bag.

“Literally thousands – right down to the last bolt, right down to the broom and dustpan,” Cliff said. “We’re talking more than 200,000 bolts alone.”

The largest prefabricated pieces will be the three segments that make up each 25-meter end wall. The side walls come in 2-meter-wide stainless-steel panels.

Although the eight-day U.S. Olympic Swim Trials don’t start until June 29, both pools must be ready for the four-day Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational beginning June 5.

Cliff said it will take five to eight days to complete the warm-up pool in the convention center, not including fill time. The first work on the competition pool in the arena would be May 19, with completion expected by May 28.

The stress on the arena and convention center floors will be at least 8 million pounds each. Each pool requires about a million gallons of water.

Roger Dixon, executive director of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, has discussed weight matters with the engineers who worked with the Qwest Center architects.

“They came back and said that is a lot of weight going on the floor, but we’re not in any jeopardy of any damage,” Dixon said Thursday. “The biggest thing is if you would lose a panel and all the water leaked out, that wouldn’t be good. But these are well-constructed pools, so we’re not concerned about it.”

The Qwest Center will be home to the Police concert Wednesday and WWE Judgment Day on May 18 before the pool foundation is started inside the arena. Those will be the last major bookings until a run of late-July concerts, although the convention center will still hold some smaller events.

Dixon, however, said any Qwest Center losses resulting from the pools have been minimal through June and into July.

“We’re really not losing anything major that we’re aware of,” Dixon said. “Tom O’Gorman (MECA director of sales and marketing) stayed on top of it and we navigated everything we wanted to book and pushed them into July.”

Cliff said both of the pools already have been sold. As far as the buyers and where they go next, Cliff said that’s “kind of confidential” and is a Myrtha responsibility.