On Jan. 28, University of Iowa wrestling head coach Tom Brands declared Iowa City, Iowa, to be the mecca of the wrestling world.

The Iowa City-Coralville area will have its chance to prove Brands right this weekend. USA Wrestling is bringing its 2020 Senior Nationals to Coralville and the now-finished Xtream Arena.

The event will be one of Xtream Arena’s first and feature roughly 350 wrestlers competing across different weight classes and disciplines.

On Friday, Greco-Roman and lightweight women’s freestyle wrestlers will compete. On Saturday, the men’s freestyle competition will begin, and the women’s freestyle will wrap up. The event will conclude with the men’s freestyle championships Sunday.

Among those competing is Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman. Nicknamed ‘The Riddler,’ Eierman transferred to Iowa from Missouri in 2019 as a three-time NCAA All-American.

“I’m grateful for everything that [Missouri] did for me,” Eierman said. “…it ultimately came down to my freestyle career, my aspirations to be an Olympic champion. I felt like [Iowa] was the best place for me to achieve those goals.”

Eierman is wrestling as the No. 2 seed in the men’s freestyle discipline at 65 kilograms against the likes of Princeton’s Matthew Kolodzik, Minnesota’s Mitch McKee, former Ohio State Buckeye Luke Pletcher, Nebraska’s Chad Red, and Iowa State’s Austin Gomez.

“I’m excited to compete against a lot of these guys,” Eierman said. “I’m not taking anything for granted or overlooking anybody. I’m ready to go out there, fight my hardest every single match to try to achieve what we set out to do.”

Many familiar and noteworthy faces will be appearing in the men’s freestyle at various weight classes, like Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder, Michigan’s Mason Parris, Iowa State’s David Carr, Wisconsin’s Evan Wick, former Ohio State Buckeye Kollin Moore, and Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin.

According to Iowa City/Coralville Area Conventions and Visitors Bureau President Josh Schamberger, Xtream Arena will welcome up to 25 percent of its maximum capacity. This equates to roughly 1,800 wrestling fans.

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“We’ll be sold out at our cap,” Schamberger said. If we aren’t already, we’ll be sold out by [Friday].”

USA Wrestling has adopted stringent COVID-19 medical protocols for the event in compliance with state and local restrictions and USA Wrestling’s Return to Mat Guidelines.

“We’ve consulted with all our local health authorities and state governments to do this,” USA Wrestling National Events Director Pete Isais said. “. . . This is just a great venue, the way that it lays out and allows for the social distancing for athletes. They’re totally separated from the spectators. So the athlete is going to be very separated, very social-distanced. Our protocols are going to play well into this whole scenario.”

Not listed among USA Wrestling’s required protocols for the event are COVID-19 testing and quarantining.

“We felt it was crucial to work hand-in-hand with those local and state authorities that were going to be making these decisions,” Isais said. “. . . We talked about testing athletes 72 hours prior to arriving in Johnson County. In the end, when we submitted our operational plan, we did not submit it with testing. . . At this time, we will not be testing unless somebody probably does have a symptom or a temperature check. Once again, they would be quarantined and sent to the appropriate health authorities.”

USA Wrestling will be requiring everyone in the building to wear face coverings at all times. Athletes will only get an exception to the rule while they are competing.

Additionally, USA Wrestling will perform health screenings, install disinfectant foggers for athletes to walk through, clean mats frequently, and conduct all media interviews via Zoom.

USA Wrestling is also encouraging referees and other participants to keep their social distance off the mat and when they leave Xtream Arena at the end of the competition.

Athletes and fans will be completely separated, as certain areas of Xtream Arena will be roped off and GreenState Family Fieldhouse will only be accessible to athletes warming up for their next match.

Session I begins today at 10 a.m.