Tom Brands

Thomas Nelson “Tom” Brands II was born on April 9, 1968, in Omaha, Nebraska; his twin brother, Terry Brands, is also an Olympic wrestler.⁠[1]

He is from Sheldon, Iowa, and he and Terry were both state high school wrestling champions.⁠[2]

At the University of Iowa he was a four-time All-American, won NCAA titles in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and three Big Ten championships, served three years as team captain and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the 1992 NCAA Championships; his record of 158 wins, seven losses and two ties remains the Hawkeyes’ best.⁠[2]

In 1993 he won the gold medal at the World Freestyle Championships in Toronto, Canada.⁠[3]

From 1993 to 2004 he spent 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa, during which the Hawkeyes won seven NCAA team titles.⁠[4]

He placed 11th at the 1994 World Championships and ninth in 1995, and won the freestyle 62 kg gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata.⁠[1]

In the men’s freestyle 62 kg event at the Atlanta Olympics he beat 1994 world champion Magomed Azizov of Russia 4–1 in the semifinal and defeated Korea’s Jang Jae-Seong 7–0 in the final to win the gold medal.⁠[5]

In February 2001 the National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced his election as a Distinguished Member, to be inducted on June 2; he was then an assistant coach at Iowa and had been named the National Wrestling Coaches Association’s (NWCA) 2000 College Assistant Coach of the Year.⁠[6]

He was an assistant coach of the 2002 U.S. Freestyle World Team; in August, after receiving credible information through an official U.S. government channel about a possible threat to the team’s safety in Iran, USA Wrestling’s Executive Committee decided not to attend the World Championships there.⁠[7]

USA Wrestling named him its 2002 Freestyle Coach of the Year, the first time he received the award; in 2003 he remained assistant coach of the U.S. Freestyle World Team under head coach Bobby Douglas.⁠[8]

Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver announced him as head wrestling coach, replacing Keith Mourlam, who had resigned in April, and making him the 11th coach since the program began in 1920; he was also set to coach the U.S. freestyle team at the Athens Olympics.⁠[3]

Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby introduced him as head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa, the eighth in the school’s history.⁠[4]

In his second year at Iowa he led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Division I team title in St. Louis with 117.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Ohio State’s 79, and was named NWCA Coach of the Year; he called it “a step in the process.”⁠[9]

His twin brother, Terry Brands, a two-time world champion and 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, joined the Iowa staff as an assistant coach.⁠[10]

Iowa won a second straight NCAA team title in St. Louis with 96.5 points, 4.5 ahead of Ohio State, the school’s 22nd national title and only the second won without an individual champion; after one of the finals a team point was deducted from Iowa for unsportsmanlike conduct.⁠[11]

The U.S. Senate agreed to Senate Resolution 95, submitted by Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley, congratulating Iowa on the 2009 NCAA title and noting that he had led the team to two straight titles in only three years as head coach.⁠[12]

Iowa won a third straight NCAA team title in Omaha with 134.5 points, 44.5 ahead of runner-up CornellCornell UniversityCornell University is a private research university in Ithaca, New York, and a member of the Ivy League. It is New York State's federal land-grant university, a distinction unique within the Ivy League. Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded the university in 1865, and it opened in 1868. In addition to its Ithaca campus, Cornell operates Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Tech in New York City and a medical college in Qatar. It enrolled 26,793 students in fall 2024. Its president is Michael I. Kotlikoff.Open the full entry, crowning three individual champions in Brent Metcalf, Jay Borschel and Matt McDonough, for the school’s 23rd national title.⁠[13]

At the Grapple on the Gridiron dual in Kinnick Stadium, Iowa edged Oklahoma State 18–16 before 42,287 fans, breaking the NCAA wrestling attendance record.⁠[14]

In 2016 he was named a volunteer coach of the U.S. Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro.⁠[15]

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced contract extensions through the 2026 season for him and assistants Terry Brands and Ryan Morningstar; in his 14th season he had won three national and four Big Ten titles.⁠[16]

Iowa won the 2021 NCAA team championship at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, its first since 2010 and the 24th in program history.⁠[17]

He appeared on episode #245 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, which introduced him as an Olympic and World Champion in freestyle wrestling and head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa; topics included motivation, mental toughness, weight cutting, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, his twin brother, the champion mindset, faith and family.⁠[18]

Gary Barta announced his contract extension through the 2029 season, saying there was no better person to lead the Iowa program; by then his teams had won four NCAA and six Big Ten titles.⁠[19]

As of October 2026 he has completed his 20th season as Iowa’s head coach (2025–26), with a 303–34–1 overall record at Iowa, four NCAA and six Big Ten team titles and 14 NCAA individual champions; he has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year five times and NWCA National Coach of the Year three times.⁠[15]

X: Public account: https://x.com/tombrandshawk (opens in a new window)⁠[18]