Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1306798
19 T he University of Iowa wrestling program gave its fans a much needed sneak peek into 2021 when 19 Hawkeyes competed at the Hawkeye Wrestling Club Showdown Open on Nov. 1 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. e event was broken into two pieces. e first included 13 Hawkeyes competing in an undercard that served as an appetizer and intrasquad dual before the main course. e main course featured six more Hawkeyes and 12 senior level athletes, among them a 2016 Olympic champion and a combined five World medals. It was a thirst quenching, live, freestyle wrestling event for the fans. And for a Hawkeye team expected to win an NCAA championship in March, it was an eye- opener for head coach Tom Brands. "We learned that situations where you're in and feel comfortable, you are never safe and there can be no let up, and if I do make a mistake it is not repeated," Brands said. "We have to be better and smarter at cutting our loss because it's going to be really hard to beat us. (Freestyle) is a different game. e positive of it is, the freestyle game is what we're learning, and that savviness makes us better all around." e main event opened with a fall from reigning Hodge Trophy winner and two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee. Lee needed one minute, 17 seconds to pin former Minnesota All-American Zach Sanders. Lee built an 8-0 lead before taking Sanders feet-to-back and securing the fall. "It was nice to be able to get into competition mode," Lee said. "Training with the team; we had a lot of guys getting ready for this, so that was a lot of fun. It was a good warmup for the season and getting ready for what's next." Jaydin Eierman, a graduate transfer from Missouri, drew what most senior-level wrestling fans would have considered the top match of the night. Eierman, who is bringing his three All-America honors with him to the Iowa lineup in 2021, exploded for two takedowns in the second period to defeat 2016 Olympic and 2015 World champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 4-1. e match was a headliner on paper, and admittedly the biggest win of Eierman's career… so far. "So far, yes. But I'm not going to let it solidify who I am," Eierman said. "I need to go out there and get one of my own. He was an Olympic champion in 2016 and I'm going to have to work hard every single day up until the Olympic trials to be where I need to be to get my Olympic gold medal. I feel like as long as I keep going every day, it's going to get better and better." at method, mixed with a little fire power, is an approach Brands can appreciate. "You have to create scoring opportunities with explosive explosion," Brands said. "ink about that, if you have something that is explosively explosive." *HWC SHOWDOWN OPEN UNDERCARD Nodir Safarov def. Jesse Ybarra, 12-4 Carter Happel def. Justin Stickley, 11-7 Cobe Siebrecht tech. fall Leif Schroeder, 10-0 (0:58) Max Murin def. Mitch McKee, 4-2 Kaleb Young tech. fall Jeremiah Moody, 11-0 (2:24) Patrick Kennedy def. Myles Wilson, 8-5 Nelson Brands dec. Abe Assad, 9-0 Jacob Warner tech. fall Zach Glazier, 10-0 *HWC SHOWDOWN OPEN MAIN EVENT 59 kg: Spencer Lee pinned Zach Sanders, 1:17 52 kg: Erin Golston pinned Devyn Gomez, 0:57 141 pounds: Bryce Meredith def. Austin DeSanto, 11-3 67 kg: Jaydin Eierman def. Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 4-1 153 pounds: Pat Lugo def. Matthew Kolodzik, 7-2 75 kg: James Green def. Alex Marinelli, 5-4 170 pounds: Precious Bell def. Jordan Nelson, 9-0 176 pounds: Tommy Gantt def. Michael Kemerer, 10-6 125 kg: Nick Gwiazdowski tech. fall Tony Cassioppi, 10-0 *Freestyle wrestling discipline (two 3-minute periods).