Iowa 149-pounder Ryder Block went 2-1 last weekend at the National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom. 

The motivation of what his father had gone through earlier in the week helped him, Block said on Tuesday.

Jurgen Block had triple-bypass heart surgery last Tuesday, days after suffering a heart attack leaving Iowa’s season-opening dual against Bellarmine, coach Tom Brands said.

Ryder Block was able to spend time with his family while his father was in the hospital, then joined the Hawkeyes for the trip to Tulsa for the National Duals.

“Something I was thinking about is if my dad can go lay on a table and get a triple bypass for six or seven hours, then I can definitely wrestle hard for seven minutes and then more if I need it,” Block said. “So I think that that was something I could use to wrestle hard this weekend.”

Block said it was difficult to see what his father was going through.

“Obviously, it's something scary,” he said. “ You never think that's going to happen, and then something like that happens, and you’ve got to figure it out. But I think when you’ve got a strong family, like my family, everybody comes together. And then everybody here has helped me too. So I think it makes it a lot easier for me to be able to just know that he's doing good, and then I can go and compete hard and know he's back home watching.”

“He spent some time up there with his family, and you know, the Iowa Hawkeye family is with him,” Brands said. “The prayers are there and the thoughts and the energy go back at him. But he's handled all that well, and he wants to be on the mat competing.”

Block said his father is recovering from the surgery.

“He’s good,” Block said. “He got out of the hospital when we were in Tulsa, and then he listened on the radio, or my mom was telling him how everything was going, so he's doing good.”

Block, in the ranking for the first time at 15th nationally at 149, defeated #16 Josh Edmond of Missouri 2-1 in the quarterfinals, then defeated fourth-ranked Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State 5-3 before losing to #11 Ethan Stiles of Ohio State 3-2 in the championship dual.

“I think it was a good start to the season,” Block said. “I think it was something I can build on. I’ve got to keep getting better. Obviously, the last match, I’ve got to finish. Keep wrestling hard and keep putting a lot of effort out on the mat. And good things will happen for me.”

“He's never satisfied,” Brands said. “He's working on getting better every day. He's enjoying himself. He's an energy guy. He's a funny guy in there — he's the guy that the jokes come in on that group text for the trip we're on. He's the guy that's doing that. Energy is important to him.”

Block, a three-time undefeated state champion at Waverly-Shell Rock High School in Iowa, has dealt with two knee injuries in his career, with his second surgery coming last March. He competed in just six matches last season.

“I just think last year was just like the perfect storm,” he said. “I kind of just thought that it was going to happen for me, I'm going to come here and be ‘the guy’ and that just doesn't work like that. It was probably naive or disrespectful or whatever for me to just think it was going to happen. I wish I could go back and change things, but I guess I'm doing it now. But, you know. You can't feel bad for yourself; nobody cares that I tore my ACL twice. I’ve just got to fix it, and then get back together. Got to get better, and then do better this year.”

Block said his father’s surgery helped put things in perspective.

“Like this is not the biggest thing in my life,” Block said. “I’ve got to be a good son, good brother, good boyfriend, whatever it is. I think that that was just something that I could use, like, OK, this isn't the main thing, but I'm going to do this I'm going to be all in. I’ve got to have a good effort, I’ve got to have a good attitude. I’ve got to wrestle like I want to be something that somebody wants to be like, ‘All right, I like that guy, I want to watch that guy wrestle. He's trying hard.’ So that was something that I thought I could use. I’ve just got to get through it and then get to the next thing.”

He’s Going To Be A Father 

Massoma Endene, ranked eighth nationally at 197, has opened the season with five wins.

He has his eye on a big day coming in late January, and it’s not the January 23 dual at Nebraska. That event is right around the time Endene’s girlfriend is scheduled to give birth to the couple’s first child.

“It’s a big blessing,” Endene said. “It's going to be the biggest blessing of my life. My wrestling career can be done today, and I'd be content with my career. But having a child, there's nothing that's going to beat that, the accolades and all that's going to go away. And I'm going to have a child that you know looks up to me as a superhero. So that's going to be the most impactful thing in my life.”

Endene, a three-time NCAA Division III champion at Wartburg, has fit in well with the Hawkeyes. He won all four of his matches in the National Duals, including wins over 14th-ranked Evan Bates of Missouri and ninth-ranked Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State.

“Since I got here, it's been people doubting me,” Endene said. “I just take it, I don't really say much about it, and just keep coming in here and working, because that's all I can do. And whenever the time comes where I have to go out there and prove myself, I'm just going to go do that.”

“He’s scoring points,” Brands said. “And we got to keep that going. We’ve got to keep a good thing going.” 

Endene will face fourth-ranked Mac Stout in Friday’s home dual against 19th-ranked Pittsburgh.

“That's a big match on Friday night,” Brands said. “That's a circled, highlighted match on Friday night. That doesn't mean that you put pressure on yourself, but that's probably a highlight match when you're talking about the rankings and stuff.”

Facing Pitt 

Friday’s dual will be the first time Iowa and Pittsburgh have wrestled in a dual. 

The Panthers will be the 121st program the Hawkeyes have faced in their history.