By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – As a three-time All-American, Jaydin Eierman already is an accomplished college wrestler.

Yes, the 141-pound Missouri transfer came to Iowa to win his first national title, but the Columbia, Mo., native also came to Iowa because it was the highest level of competition he could find.

Iowa comes into the season ranked No. 1 nationally and is seeking its first national team title since 2010.

“The coaching staff is one of the best in the world and they really work with their athletes,” Eierman said.
Our practices are built around us and how we want to feel by the end of competition. We’re trying to peak and not really kill ourselves at the beginning, but it’s really great, the practices.

“Every day you’re going to have a war. There’s not one guy that’s going to bow down to you. You have guys that are ready to fight for that lineup spot and that just makes everybody better, because they’re going to push each other to the top.”

The top-ranked Eierman, who has an 89-14 career record with 38 pins, has made a good impression on his teammates since joining the Hawkeyes after taking an Olympic redshirt during the 2019-20 season.

“He’s a guy that when the lights are on, he’s going,” senior 165-pounder Alex Marinelli said. “Whether it’s in the practice room or on the mat I know he’s going to be putting on a show. He’s a guy that loves to compete. He’s awesome, he’s funny. He brings a good vibe to the room and he just loves to wrestle to be honest. It’s hard to find those guys that are at that age that really want to still compete hard, and Jaydin Eierman is one of them. He loves to compete, and I love to see it. You love to bring in those guys.”

For the most part, wrestling is an individual sport.

But Eierman, who finished third in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, said that’s the vibe inside the Iowa wrestling room.

“Whenever you see them do interviews and talk about it, it’s never ‘I, I, I’,” Eierman said. “It’s we have set out to do this, or we’re going to do this together, we have each other’s backs. It’s a family atmosphere. And they’re here together, they’re supporting each other, and that’s what I loved. They’re going to go out there and fight for each other not just for themselves.”

Speaking of family, Iowa’s first opponent, Nebraska, is a familiar one to Eierman’s family.

Eierman’s father, Mike, wrestled at Nebraska and was an All-American in 1993.

“I’m excited,” Eierman said. “I’ve only competed against Nebraska one time in my career and that was at nationals my redshirt freshman year, I believe. I’m just excited. I give him a little hit there and there for it, but I’m excited to finally just go out there and compete for the Hawkeyes.”