The first event ever held at the UNI-Dome was a wrestling meet between the University of Northern Iowa and defending national champion, Iowa. Athletic Director Stan Sheriff was beaming with pride over the new UNI-Dome. Sheriff said about the UNI-Dome, "This is like owning a Model A car and suddenly having a Ferrari."³⁴ The wrestling meet wasn't the big attraction of the 10,214 fans who came to the dome on February 7th, 1976; it was the UNI-Dome. For the record, Iowa defeated the University of Northern Iowa by the comfortable margin of 31-8. Iowa assistant wrestling coach, Dan Gable, was impressed with the new UNI-Dome and after the meet he said, "It's a great place." Many of the fans that were present that night were impressed by the size of the new building and were in awe of the domed roof. The UNI-Dome only had the seats completed on the West Side when it opened. Many fans at the wrestling meet sat on the East Side concrete with their blankets just to be at the UNI -Dome on opening night. You can see that February 7th, 1976, was a very important day for the University of Northern Iowa and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area. This day marked the first of many great events that have been held in the UNI-Dome.

    Labor Day Weekend of 1976 was the weekend that UNI chose to dedicate the dome to the public. The university planned a weekend full of events in the dome for the dedication. Harry Chapin kicked the dedication weekend off on September 3rd with a concert on Friday night. On Saturday morning the university had its Dedication of the Dome ceremony. Later that night the University of Northern Iowa football team had its first regular season football game in their new stadium. Northern Michigan came in and defeated the University of Northern Iowa soundly by a margin of 41 to 7. To wrap up the weekend on Sunday, the university had a religious service in the dome. The dome was officially dedicated and was ready to be used by the community of Cedar Falls and University of Northern Iowa for many years to follow.