Eierman takes out Olympic champion Khinchegashvili, Lee and Golston earn falls at the HWC Showdown Open

Photo of Jaydin Eierman after defeating Olympic and World champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili courtesy of Richard Immel.

The Hawkeye Wrestling Club hosted their Showdown Open tonight inside the Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa. The event featured nine main card matches and an eight-match undercard.

Jaydin Eierman pulled the biggest upset of the night, defeating Georgian Olympic and World champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 4-1. Trailing 1-0 after a first period passivity point, Eierman converted on two beautiful double leg takedowns, finishing cleanly and leaving Khinchegashvili with no opportunity to counter.

This is the second Georgian World champion Eierman has defeated in his career. He also pinned Beka Lomtadze at the 2018 Poland Open. Eierman was a 2018 National Team member and 2019 U23 World Team member. He earned All-American honors three-times for Missouri before transferring to Iowa with one year of eligibility remaining.

Spencer Lee started the main card off in dramatic fashion with a pin over four-time Minnesota All-American Zach Sanders. Lee earned a takedown and two turns with a gutwrench to take a quick 6-0 lead. He then countered a Sanders shot, pancaking him to his back for the fall.

In the very next match, three-time National Team member Erin Golston also picked up a fall over Life University freshman Devyn Gomez, a last-minute replacement for World Team member Sarah Hildebrandt who was forced to withdrawl due to health issues. Golston, a three time Junior World medalist, quickly strung together a takedown and four turns with a leg lace, holding Gomez on her back after the last turn for the fall.

In the second women’s freestyle match on the card, No. 2 on the National Team at 76 kg Precious Bell dominated her way to a 10-0 victory over Life University’s Jordan Nelson. Bell nearly secured a fall as time was expiring, but Nelson managed to fight off her back, holding Bell to the technical fall.

Another Iowa wrestler picking up a big victory was Pat Lugo. He defeated Princeton All-American Matt Kolodzik, 7-2. Lugo and Kolodzik were both seniors last season that did not have the opportunity to wrestle at their final NCAA Tournament. Lugo would have been seeded first and Kolodzik was slated to be seeded sixth.

The other Hawkeye wrestlers on the card did not fare as well. Austin DeSanto dropped his match to two-time NCAA finalist Bryce Meredith, 11-2. Meredith was able to expose DeSanto, a freestyle neophyte, on numerous shots, which made the difference in the match.

Iowa All-American Alex Marinelli gave two-time World medalist James Green a tightly contested, 5-4, match. Trailing 1-0 off a passivity point, Green blast doubled Marinelli on the edge of the mat for four points. A failed Marinelli challenge pushed the score to 5-1. While Marinelli battled back with a late takedown, he could not make up the lost ground.

Tommy Gantt defeated Hawkeye Michael Kemerer, in the second-to-last match of the night. Trailing 4-2, Gantt exposed Kemerer three times with a crotch lock to take an 8-4 lead. In the closing minutes, Gantt and Kemerer exchanged takedowns pushing the final score to 10-6.

At heavyweight, two-time World Team member Nick Gwiazdowski closed out the card with a 10-0 technical fall over Iowa redshirt sophomore Anthony Cassioppi. Leading 2-0 at the break, Gwiazdowski converted a takedown into a leg lace, getting three turns to end the match.

The undercard also provided fans with intriguing matchups and results. Perhaps the most surprising was Nelson Brands’s dominant, 9-0, win over Cadet World bronze medalist Abe Assad. As a true freshman, Assad beat out redshirt senior Cash Wilcke and Brands to claim the starting spot at 184 pounds. He finished fourth at the Big Ten tournament and was a NWCA Second-Team All-American. Brands, who will be a redshirt sophomore, put his points on the board with three takedowns, a step-out and a turn with a gutwrench.

Another noteworthy result was Max Murin’s win over Minnesota All-American Mitch McKee. While on the shot clock at the end of the first period, Murin converted on a low single to take a, 2-0, lead into the break. McKee and Murin exchanged takedowns in the second period, and Murin held on to win 4-2. Murin, who will be a redshirt junior, held a 1-2 record against McKee in NCAA competition.

Hawkeyes Cobe Siebrecht, Kaleb Young and Jacob Warner all won their bouts decisively via technical fall. Hawkeye Wrestling Club athlete Nodir Safarov, a multiple-time Uzbekistan World Team member, defeated Iowa freshman Jesse Ybarra, 12-4. Also notching wins were Carter Happel and Patrick Kennedy.

Main card results
Spencer Lee FALL Zach Sanders
Erin Golston FALL Devyn Gomez
Bryce Meredith DEC Austin DeSanto, 11-2
Jaydin Eierman DEC Vladimer Khinchegashvili, 4-1
Pat Lugo DEC Matthew Kolodzik, 7-2
Precious Bell DEC Jordan Nelson, 11-0
James Green DEC Alex Marinelli, 5-4
Tommy Gantt DEC Michael Kemerer, 10-6
Nick Gwiazdowski DEC Tony Cassioppi, 10-0

Undercard results
Nodir Safarov dec. Jesse Ybarra, 12-4
Carter Happel dec. Justin Stickley, 11-7
Cobe Siebrecht TF Leif Schroeder, 10-0
Max Murin dec. Mitch McKee, 4-2
Kaleb Young TF Jeremiah Moody, 11-0
Patrick Kennedy dec. Myles Wilson, 8-5
Nelson Brands dec. Abe Assad, 9-0
Jacob Warner TF Zach Glazier, 10-0