The Hawkeye Wrestling Club has been very busy as of late. The overall excitement for the HWC has really been taken up a huge notch since the end of last season. The influx of donations, the hiring of Mark Perry as head coach, and members of the HWC more than doubling in the last six months are all reasons to be excited. Members of the HWC competed in Colorado Springs and Cory Clark wrestled in Canada. The recent Iowa Wrestling Media Day provided an opportunity for me to talk to Hawkeye Wrestling Club head coach Mark Perry.
Could you give us a rundown on the performances of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club members this past weekend?
Mark Perry: The Schultz was alright. We wrestled pretty good outside of (Chris) Dardanes where I think it comes down to better weight management. The night before a weigh in you have to cut weight the right way. I thought Burak wrestled a flawless tournament outside of when we were up 5-0 with :24 left he gives up a position where the guy made a throw and we landed on top and they gave the guy an appreciation point. In hindsight I probably should have thrown in the cube. But the guy was so tired that he couldn’t get up and come back to the center and then they waived it off so it was 5-1. He gave up another takedown and then another takedown with :04 left. That last :24 was ugly but he wrestled flawless outside of that. He controlled the ties and nobody touched him.
Lauren (Louive) won the tournament so that went her way. Cory (Clark) didn’t get the results we were looking for. That weight is crucial. 61 kilos, whoever wins the US Open will be a heavy favorite.
What is the upcoming schedule for the Hawk Club members?
Perry: Sammy will go to Poland over Thanksgiving weekend to wrestle for a world title. Gilman will go to Iran. I do not know the exact list but Iran and the number one Russian team will be there. There will be just as tough of competition if not tougher than he saw at the World Championships. We are hoping to really get Gilman to the top. The Japanese wrestler might be there as well. There will be five legit guys.
The rest of the Club guys will most likely compete at the end of January and February. That is really the International season and the kickoff. Most of those guys will compete then and the next event will be the US Open. Gilman will go to Iran and probably to one of the tournaments like the Yarygin. Instead of going to the US Open since he is sitting at the top, he will go to the World Cup.
The Schultz was the first tournament with the new rules with the weigh ins. How do you think the Iowa Wrestling background will help with the two day weigh ins?
Perry: I think it’s a huge benefit for Iowa wrestlers. At that level, obviously that’s what we’re working on to wrestle at that skill level and that technical level at the Senior level that is the highest on the planet. If you want to make it simpler, it makes conditioning a much bigger factor. And it’s either going to be a Thomas Gilman like I said before Chris Dardanes, Boris Novachkov, all the lightweight guys, anybody that is cutting a good amount of weight, it’s going to be a monster advantage or a monster disadvantage.
Could you tell us a little bit about Boris Novachkov? I know you go way back with him. What does he bring to the Iowa Wrestling room?
Perry: I think that’s the biggest thing is what he brings to the room is something that doesn’t exist here style wise. He’s got a full European style and he’s dangerous down low, up high. I think the biggest thing is he is world class. In ‘15, he beat the guys that were first, second, and third in the Olympics (66 kg/143 lbs.). He’s a world class guy. It’s just gonna be a huge benefit not only for the middle weights, but for those guys in the light weights. His skill level, I’m biased, but I thought in 2015 he was the best technician in the world. He’s a phenomenal technician and it’s awesome to have a guy of that caliber in here for these guys to rub elbows with. They are not going to wrestle anybody at the NCAA tournament better than him.
When will Novachkov be competing?
Perry: Right on the same schedule. He was ranked number one in the world heading into the World Championships this year and didn’t compete. The guy that won it he had beat at Europeans. That is not easy for a competitor to not go. He had an injury that he had to recover from. I think our plan for him is that same time that the Dan Kolov, which is in Bulgaria. The Yarygin, the Grand Prix of France. From January 20 to around February 15 there are like five tournaments.
I will keep you up to date with the upcoming events and results of Hawkeye Wrestling Club members.
