Tom Brands (born April 9, 1968) is an American former Olympic wrestler and is currently the head coach of the University of Iowa men's wrestling team. He won a gold medal in the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. An intense competitor, Brands' wrestling career with the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

included a record of 158-7-2 and an undefeated season in 1991 where he was 45–0. He was a four-time All-American, three-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Champion, three-time

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Champion, and Outstanding Wrestler at the 1992 NCAA Tournament. His twin brother, Terry, was also an Olympic medalist and a standout at

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Internationally, Brands won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in freestyle at 136.6 pounds; a gold medal at the 1993 World Freestyle Championships in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

; two World Cup gold medals (1994 and 1995); and the gold at the 1995 Pan American Games. He won four U.S. Nationals titles (1993–96) and made four straight U.S. World or Olympic teams (1993–96). He was named 1993 USA Wrestling Athlete of the Year, 1993 John Smith Outstanding Freestyle Wrestler, and 1993 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2001.

Coaching career

Brands served 12 seasons as assistant coach for the

Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

, from 1993 to 2004. Brands was named National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2000. He also served as head coach at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

for two seasons. In the spring of 2006, Tom Brands returned to the University of Iowa as head coach. Brands led the Hawkeyes to national titles in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2021. Under Brands, Iowa also captured conference titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, were the 2015 co-champions with Ohio State and were the 2021 co-champions with Penn State. During Brands' tenure as head coach, 8 different wrestlers have won individual national titles, and Iowa has won over 200 dual meets. NCAA Champions under Tom Brands * Jay Borschel *

Matt McDonough Matt McDonough (born May 12, 1990) is a two-time NCAA wrestling champion who attended the University of Iowa. High school and personal life McDonough attended Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa. His career high school record was 151-15. McDonou ...

(2x) *

Brent Metcalf Brent Metcalf (born July 14, 1986) is an American freestyle wrestler who formerly competed in the international circuit for the United States of America. Biography As a prep wrestler, Metcalf went undefeated with a career record of 228-0, won ...

(2x) * Mark Perry (2x) *

Tony Ramos Antônio de Carvalho Barbosa (born 25 August 1948), known professionally as Tony Ramos, is a Brazilian actor. Ramos has played leading roles in major telenovela productions for more than four decades. Many of his most famous roles share the ch ...

* Derek St. John * Cory Clark *

Spencer Lee Spencer Richard Lee (born October 14, 1998) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 57 kilograms (125 pounds). In freestyle, he was the '19 US National champion and a three–time age–group World Champion, once as a ...

(3x) ! colspan=5, Head Coaching Results , - ! Season ! Dual Record ! Conference Record ! Conference Finish ! NCAA Finish , - ! style=background:white colspan=5,

, - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2004-05 , style="font-size:88%", 16-4-0 , style="font-size:88%", 5-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", T-42nd , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2005-06 , style="font-size:88%", 1-16-0 , style="font-size:88%", 1-4-0 , style="font-size:88%", 5th , style="font-size:88%", 29th , - , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", Va Tech Totals: , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", 17-20-0 , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", 6-4-0 , colspan="3" style="background:white;font-size:88%;", , - ! style=background:white colspan=5,

, - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2006-07 , style="font-size:88%", 14-5-0 , style="font-size:88%", 5-3-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 8th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2007-08 , style="font-size:88%", 21-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", 8-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2008-09 , style="font-size:88%", 24-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", 8-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2009-10 , style="font-size:88%", 23-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", 8-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2010-11 , style="font-size:88%", 15-0-1 , style="font-size:88%", 8-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2011-12 , style="font-size:88%", 14-4-0 , style="font-size:88%", 6-2-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2012-13 , style="font-size:88%", 20-3-0 , style="font-size:88%", 8-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 4th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2013-14 , style="font-size:88%", 15-2-0 , style="font-size:88%", 7-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 4th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2014-15 , style="font-size:88%", 17-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", 9-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2015-16 , style="font-size:88%", 16-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", 9-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 5th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2016-17 , style="font-size:88%", 13-2-0 , style="font-size:88%", 8-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 4th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2017-18 , style="font-size:88%", 12-3-0 , style="font-size:88%", 6-3-0 , style="font-size:88%", 4th , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2018-19 , style="font-size:88%", 14-1-0 , style="font-size:88%", 9-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", 4th , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2019-20 , style="font-size:88%", 13-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", 9-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", - , - , style="background:white; font-size:88%;", 2020-21 , style="font-size:88%", 5-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", 5-0-0 , style="font-size:88%", , style="font-size:88%", , - , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", Iowa Totals: , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", 236-23-1 , style="background:white;font-size:88%;", 113-10-0 , colspan="3" style="background:white;font-size:88%;", , - , style="background:LIGHTgrey;font-size:88%;", Career Totals: , style="background:LIGHTgrey;font-size:88%;", 253-43-1 , style="background:LIGHTgrey;font-size:88%;", 119-14-0 , colspan="3" style="background:LIGHTgrey;font-size:88%;",

Personal life

Brands and his twin brother Terry were both coached by Dan Gable. Brands has authored several instructional VHS/DVD products that teach and advocate his "in-your-face" style of wrestling. He grew up in Sheldon, Iowa and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from the

. He is married and has three children, two daughters and a son.

References

External links

Player Bio

Tom Brands' Web site

Article on Tom & Terry (Sports Illustrated)

Tom Brands HighlightsTom Brands Rokfin Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brands, Tom 1968 births Living people Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Iowa Hawkeyes wrestlers Iowa Hawkeyes wrestling coaches American twins Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Twin sportspeople People from Sheldon, Iowa World Wrestling Champions Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century American people