Jaydin Eierman

Eierman was born to Heather Thurston in Columbia, Missouri, where he attended Tolton High School. As a high schooler, Eierman went on to become the second undefeated wrestler in the history of Missouri to claim four MSHSAA titles in four years of varsity.[7] Entering his senior year, he committed to the Missouri Tigers.[8] After graduation, Jaydin changed his last name Clayton to Eierman, honoring his life-long coach Mike Eierman.[9]

In his first season ('15–'16), Eierman was redshirted and compiled a 22–2 record at 133 pounds competing unattached in open tournaments.[10] As a freshman, he moved up to 141 pounds and went on to compile a 29–7 record, claimed a Mid-American Conference title and placed fifth at the NCAAs, becoming an All-American.[11][12] As a sophomore, Eierman improved his record to 34–3, repeated as the MAC champion and went on to place fourth at the NCAA championships.[13][14] In his final year officially competing as a Tiger, Eierman racked up a 28–4 record, won his last MAC title (named Outstanding Wrestler) and went on to keep improving his position as an All-American at Nationals, placing third.[15] For 2019–2020, Eierman took an Olympic redshirt.[16] As a Tiger, Eierman went 89–14 overall.[17]

In November 2019, Eierman transferred to the University of Iowa.[18] Coming back to folkstyle, Eierman went 5–0 during regular season, with notable wins over Anthony Echemendia from Ohio State, Chad Red from Nebraska and Dylan Duncan from Illinois.[19][20][21] On February 8, it was announced that the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling team had suspended all team related activities during regular season due to COVID-19 results.[22] At the B1G Championships, Eierman made it to the finals with another win over Chad Red, and defeated Penn State's Nick Lee to claim the title, also helping the Hawkeyes claim the team championship.[23] At the NCAAs, Eierman got notable falls to make his first final, defeating ninth-seeded Dresden Simon and fourth seeded Tariq Wilson. In a razor close match against finalist Nick Lee, in overtime, Eierman was defeated by Lee, claiming runner-up honors and helping to Iowa's first team title in 11 years.[24] He received the 2021 Wade Schalles Award for best collegiate pinner.[25] As the NCAA granted winter athletes one more year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eierman confirmed he will come back in 2021–2022, as a 25 year old, sixth-year senior.[26]

During his first years competing in senior freestyle, Eierman most notably placed second at the 2018 US Open and third at the 2018 US World Team Trials.[27] He also competed internationally, placing eight at the Polish Open.[28]

Eierman started off 2019 by placing fifth at the US Open and the US World Team Trials and followed up by becoming the US U23 National Champion and representative for the U23 World Championships.[29][30] Four days before the event, it was announced that Eierman would replace Zain Retherford and attend the 2019 Pan American Games, in which he ended up bringing a bronze medal to the United States.[31][32] He went on to place eight at the U23 World Championships.[33] In 2020, Eierman placed fifth at the US National Championships, and earned the biggest win of his career when he defeated World and Olympic champion Vladimer Khinchegashvili at the HWC Showdown Open.[34][35] In May 2, 2021, Eierman claimed his first US Open National Championship.[36]