What Univ. of Iowa team has showed up for the NCAA Championships in St. Louis?    Is it the team that won the Big Ten, qualified all 10 athletes for the NCAA Tournament, and showed a renewed spirit two weeks ago?    Or is it the team that seemed inconsistent, inexperienced and uninspired during low points throughout a difficult season?    After day one, the answer is neither. Perhaps it is the real Iowa team, with a performance somewhere between the extremes.    No other team has 10 athletes in the field, so Iowa wrestlers were prominent in the tournament, just like the years when the team was dominant. The Iowa section full of black and gold colored fans was also in the house.    "We had momentum coming in," said Coach Jim Zalesky. "But this is a whole new tournament. You take it one match at a time, one tournament at a time. Everybody fights real hard here."    There is always a ton of pressure on the Univ. of Iowa to succeed in wrestling. The years of dominance under Dan Gable continued for a few years with coach Jim Zalesky, but the recent seasons have been a struggle. He won three straight titles when he took over the position, the most of any active NCAA Div. I coach, but has not been on top since. This year, when Zalesky is being inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, may have been one of the most difficult since taking over the top spot of Hawkeye Nation.    "We had some things happen," said Zalesky of this season. "Some guys quit on us. You always tell your backup guys to be ready to go at any time. Some of our guys really improved as well."    The Hawkeyes had no time to think about things when the tournament started. Three Iowa wrestlers drew pigtail matches, all favorites in their bouts. Two were on the mat at the opening whistle, and because of a quick fall, all three Iowa wrestlers were on the mat at the same time. The coaching staff was split between the three mats, right into the battle immediately. Jim Zalesky, Tom Brands, Bill Zadick and Royce Alger were out on the mats, coaching their athletes.    At 125, No. 2 Luke Eustice drew tough Jose Leon of Boston Univ., a senior who missed almost  the entire season with a leg injury. There was no takedown in the first period, and Eustice rode out Leon the entire second period. In the third, Eustice was able to open up his offense, with a takedown and a turn, and won by a 3-0 margin.    At 141, No. 5 Cliff Moore had sentimental favorite Josh Ruff of Binghamton, the Colonial Athletic Association champion whose team is scheduled for exinction. In a back and forth match in which Moore gave up some takedowns, he emerged with a tough 8-6 win.    The third bout was at 184 pounds, where No. 12 Paul Bradley faced Greg Gifford of Fresno State. Bradley opened things up and scored a fall, and the famous Iowa section roared with delight, celebrating the bonus points.    It was a good start for the Hawkeyes, but these were all matches they were expected to win. Much like the rest of the season, there was some positives there, as well as some question marks.    Iowa's first loss came in the next bout, when unseeded Trent Goodale drew No. 8 Matt Sanchez of Cal-Bakersfield at 133 pounds. Sanchez came at Goodale with a funky low-single attack for some early takedowns.  Trailing 7-5, Goodale almost completed a takedown to tie things midway through the third period, but the funky Sanchez pulled a miracle upside down counter to stop the hold. A spin takedown made it 9-5, and Sanchez scored an additional takedown and tilt at the end for a 14-6 victory. It was not as easy as the score indicated.    Another win by Eustice and a fall by Moore in the first round kept Iowa on track. But the first upset loss came shortly after when No. 9 Ty Eustice was beaten at 149 pounds by EIWA runner-up David Dies of Brown, 6-5. Iowa dropped the next bout also, with Joe Johnson going down against No. 9 Matt Lebe of West Virginia, 10-7s at 157 pounds.     The next Hawkeye up, unseeded Cole Pape, turned things around at 165 pounds. Pape scored a takedown with 21 seconds left against Michael Barikian of Navy for a 4-3 lead, but a clasping penalty with two secons left tied it at 4-4.  In overtime, Pape took Barikian down to his back for the winning points in a 9-4 win. The Hawkeyes had a little scare at 174, with No. 2 Tyler Nixt stopping Ed Pawlak of Buffalo by a tight 4-3 margin. Paul Bradley added more points at 184 pounds against Alex Clemsen of Edinboro with another close bout, a 3-2 win.      Since 197 Ryan Fulsaas had a bye, the session ended at heavyweight, with Ryan Fuller against No. 12 Scott Coleman of archrival Iowa State. Fuller scored a takedown with less than 20 seconds to win the match, firing up the Iowa faithful and ending the session on a high note.    "You have to squeeze out every win," said Zalesky. "It is just like at the Big Tens. One guy doesn't win and we don't win the tournament. When you get to this tournament, every individual has to do his best. If you do well as an individual, your team gets a chance."    No coach is ever happy with his team completely, especially when there are were some losses in the early going.    "You have to be ready, but sometimes you are not," said Zalesky. "At this tournament, you have to be ready every time, but they are sometimes not ready. We got a couple of pins and bonus points. All of the points will help us."    Iowa ended the morning session in third place, with Illinois in first and Oklahoma State in second. The Hawkeyes, despite the ups and downs, were in strong position to be a factor at this tournament. It was a mixed bag, for sure, but a good start.    The evening session might tell a bit more about the team's character and preparation. Keeping the men in the winners bracket who were there, and doing well in the wrestlebacks would be the goal for the night.    The first Hawkeye match of the night was in the championship bracket, with No. 2 Luke Eustice facing Big Ten rival John Velez of Northeastern at 125 pounds. There were no takedowns in the first period. Eustice got a quick escape but no takedown again, leading 1-0.  Velez got his takedown right off the bat in the third. Eustice scored a double leg takedown with six seconds left to win 3-1, firing up the Iowa fans.    No. 5 Cliff Moore was next up at 141 pounds, facing No. 12 Ron Tarquino of Pitt. Moore opened the bout with a takedown and led 2-1 after one period. Moore scored another takedown making it 4-2 in the second, then opened it up in the third with another takedown and a three-point turn for a dominant 11-2 win.    The run ended, as expected, at 165 pounds when Cole Pape ran into No. 2 Troy Letters of Lehigh, one of the nation's most explosive stars. Letters led 4-2 after the first with two takedowns. The second period ended 8-3, and Letters finished it off in the third with a final 16-5 stomping.    No. 2 Tyler Nixt had a Big Ten tussle at 174, facing Wisconsin's Ralph DeNisco. At the same time, on the next mat over, No. 12 Paul Bradley battled another conference rival, Ohio State's Blake Kaplan at 184 pounds.    Nixt's bout was tied at 2-2 in the second period, and an early third period escape made it 3-2. No other points were scored, and riding time gave Nixt the final 4-2 victory.    Bradley scored the first takedown of the match and led 2-1 after one period. After a Kaplan escape, Bradley nailed a double leg takedown for the 4-2 lead. Kaplan got his escape to make it 4-3. Two Bradley takedowns in the third period closed the door, and the final score ended up 9-4 for the Hawkeye. The fans, which had been a bit subdued earlier in the evening, started to enjoy themselves and make more noise than before.    Making his first appearance of the day, after a morning bye, was No. 10 Ryan Fulsaas at 197 pounds. He faced No. 7 Chris Jones of Drexel, a higher seed from a less prominent program. Could Iowa use some of that magic to win a match it was supposed to lose on paper? The key to this was a Fulsaas takedown, as well as a hobbled Jones, and the Hawkeye came away with a 3-1 victory, a nice turnaround win for the team.    The final championship match was at heavyweight, and the se