Happy New Year!
We had a lot of great victories in 2024 and they were because of you, our loyal fans! Without the support from our 621 Inner Circle Members, Event Attendees, Customers, and One-Time Donors, NONE of our accomplishments would have been possible – Thank You!!
The Olympic year was jam-packed with tournaments, travel, events, development, and growth for our club. Let’s take a moment to look back, to move forward!
2024 – A YEAR IN REVIEW
- Spencer Lee, Wins US Olympic Team Trials – 57kg
- Spencer Lee, Officially an Olympian!
- Spencer Lee, 2024 Paris Olympic Silver Medalist – 57kg
- Ben Kueter Earned Silver at the U20 World Championships
- Tom Brands, 300 Dual Meet Victories
- Hawkeyes Sell Out Season Tickets for 4th Straight Year
- University of Iowa Wrestling Team Leads Nation in Attendance for the 17th Straight Season
- Seven Hawkeyes Placed at U23 Nationals and U20 World Team Trials in Geneva, OH
- Rico Chiapparelli Inducted into the University of Iowa Hall of Fame
- The New 38,000-square-foot Goschke Family Wrestling Training Center Opened in May
- Presented our Annual Rob McReynolds Passion Award to Long-time Hawkeye, Mitch Kelly
- Iowa Hawkeye Wrestlers Placed 4th at the B1G Championships and 5th at the NCAA Championships
- We Organized Several Pre Match Socials for Our Fans and Built an Even Stronger Community
- Hosted Multiple Fundraising Events, Reached New Records for Attendance, and Support
- Expanded the Herb Tyler 50 year Endowment Fund with New Pledges and Donors
- Established the Board of Trustees with Co-Chairs Terry Shadwick, Tom Barton, and Barb Barton
- We Continued our Partnership with SingleSpeed Brewing Co. Gable Golden Lager
- Offered and Sold More Merchandise than Ever Before
Created an Album for Our Loyal Fans to Follow… 2024 Olympic Journey Photo Album
CLUB UPDATE
Everything we do is focused on supporting our athletes’ pursuit of accomplishing their goals. Each time someone gives to our organization, it directly impacts our team members; Spencer Lee, Austin DeSanto, Jacob Warner, Alex Marinelli, Kaleb Young, Jayden Eierman, and Brandon Sorensen. Their athlete experience at the University of Iowa is extended and enhanced by the HWC. You, along with all our fans are so loyal and generous – we can’t say thank you enough for your financial support.
Austin DeSanto (63kg) recently returned from his overseas Greco-Roman tour in Sweden and Finland – where he took bronze and gold respectfully. Austin is diversifying his skillset as he is continuing to wrestle folkstyle with the University of Iowa team, freestyle with his fellow HWC members, and now Greco.
Spencer Lee is preparing for his next opportunity to compete. There are three international tournaments coming up that should be on your radar; the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane in France on January 18th, the Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov in Bulgaria on January 24-25 and the UWW Rankings Series Tournament – Zagreb Open in Zagreb, Croatia on February 5th. We can’t wait to see him again! SPENCER LEE vs THE WORLD!!
HAPPENING NOW
Our team just competed at the 3rd Annual Soldier Salute at the Xtream Arena and once again won the team title in dominant fashion! Our Hawkeyes start their B1G schedule Sunday, January 12th by traveling to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers.
This is the last month to enter to win an E-Z-GO HWC Golf Cart Raffle! Valued at $10,000, this custom gas powered golf cart could be yours!! AND every entry is a donation to our organization and helps us impact our athletes in a meaningful way.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Our next major event is our Arctic Plunge! Saturday, January 25, 2025 immediately following the Ohio State Dual!! This event is so much fun and it’s an opportunity for friends, family, and co-workers to come together for one awesome cause!
Jumpers set out to raise as money as possible for their frigid jump. Jumpers also have fun by dressing in costumes and having unique walk out songs and themes to their jumps! If you haven’t done it before, this is your chance to make a big splash!! Follow the event link below to learn more.
Pre-Match Social | Monday, Dec. 30 — 30 Hop Coralville — More Info.
Arctic Plunge | Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 — Brown Deer Golf Course — OPEN NOW!
Annual Banquet | Saturday, May 3, 2025 — Hotel at Kirkwood in Cedar Rapids — Registration Coming Soon
Riverside Golf Outing | Monday, June 23, 2025 — Blue Top Ridge Golf Course — Registration TBA
Okoboji Golf Outing | Friday, Aug. 1, 2025 — Emerald Hill Golf Course — Registration TBA
Sporting Clays Shoot | October 2025 — Highland Hideaway Hunting — Registration TBA
MERCHANDISE
2024 was a huge year for merchandise and apparel. We brought together 26 different items for our awesome base and we hope to provide you with some great options again in 2025!
We also want to clarify a few things about how our online stores work – We have two apparel stores on our website. The General Store is for the general population of Hawkeye Wrestling fans and the other store is for Inner Circle Members only, and is password protected. The merchandise in the Inner Circle Store is a bit more elevated and exclusive to financial supporters of our program! If you’re an Inner Circle Member look for the store password in your email by searching “New Inner Circle Merchandise!”. Most of the items we sell are NIKE products. Our partnership with NIKE is very important to our Club and the University of Iowa.
If you ever have special requests or see items elsewhere that would look better adorned with an HWC logo, please let us know! We want to make sure we’re giving our most loyal fans exactly what they want!
Thank you so much for being a part of our amazing community and for keeping our program relevant for years to come! GO HAWKS!
Chad Beatty
Executive Director
HAWKEYE WRESTLING CLUB
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