IOWA CITY, Iowa — Six University of Iowa wrestlers return to the mat Sunday, Nov. 1, to compete at the Hawkeye Wrestling Club Showdown Open at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
Spencer Lee, Austin DeSanto, Jaydin Eierman, Alex Marinelli, Michael Kemerer, and Tony Cassioppi will compete in freestyle wrestling matches against World medalists, national champions, and NCAA All-Americans.
The HWC Showdown Open, streamed live at Trackwrestling.com, marks the first time since winning the Big Ten Championships on March 8 that wrestlers from the No. 1 team in the country will take the mat.
The six Hawkeyes are part of a main card that includes seven men’s freestyle matches and two women’s freestyle bouts. Former Hawkeye All-American and HWC member Pat Lugo is also competing.
The main-card event begins at 6 p.m. (CT) and is streamed live at Trackwrestling.com. The event is closed to the public. Only athletes, coaches, and essential workers will be allowed in the venue.
“Our open format provides a great opportunity for some really high-level matches for the best guys in our program to wrestle in Coralville, Iowa,” said Iowa head coach Tom Brands. “This is something we’ve been working on as a path to competition readiness. We don’t know when we’re going to compete (in the upcoming college season) and this seems like a natural for our fan base.
The weight classes, event order, and potential under-card will be announced at a later date.
HWC SHOWDOWN OPEN (bout order)
Spencer Lee vs. Zach Sanders
Sarah Hildebrandt vs. Erin Golston
Austin DeSanto vs. Bryce Meredith
Jaydin Eierman vs. Vladimer Khinchegashvili
Pat Lugo vs. Matthew Kolodzik
Alex Marinelli vs. James Green
Precious Bell vs. Jordan Nelson
Michael Kemerer vs. Tommy Gantt
Tony Cassioppi vs. Nick Gwiazdowski