“Defined by Minutes on the Mat”: Iowa Hawkeyes Wrestling HC Tom Brands Hammers Down a Reality Check for Wrestlers

The NCAA Division 1 wrestling coaches are known for the invaluable ways they make up-and-coming wrestlers into world and Olympic champions. Many world champions even return to their coaches to train for further competitions. One of those top coaches is the Iowa Hawkeyes HC Tom Brands. 

Tom Brands is known in the wrestling community for both creating formidable grappling powerhouses and for taking their stand whenever needed. A recent social media upload saw the Iowa Hawkeyes HC giving every collegiate wrestler some great advice. In fact, Brands’s words both educated as well as jolted wrestlers to understand their reality.

Thus spoke Iowa Hawkeyes Wrestling’s Tom Brands 

FloWrestling tweeted a video showcasing a video of Brands talking at a press conference. The Iowa Hawkeyes coach said, “You’re going to have 33 guys in a bracket in March in Kansas City that are going to be dog-eat-dog. So, you’ve got to be ready, and you’ve got to build, and you’ve got to have the right mindset, you’ve got to have the right belief.”

Brands also noted, “This is not anything to sneeze at. This is real Division I athletics. It is real. It’s dog-eat-dog, and you know what, it’s funny because your career is defined by literally minutes on the mat. Five years of wrestling, literally you’re defined by minutes on the mat. 

The Iowa Hawkeyes HC conveyed that this thing follows every wrestler even when they graduate from college. “Sometimes you wrestle 10 years internationally, and you’re still defined literally by minutes on the mat.” While Tom Brands held the mirror to the young wrestlers, he also told them what they should focus on. 

What prevents a pitfall in the making in one’s wrestling career?

Brands noted, “You’ve got to show up. And that’s where we’re at. And so you say, you know, but it’s not a unique mindset. Get better every day, work hard at what’s important in your life, and you know, you’ve got to get tough.” The most remarkable thing about these words is the fact that they will benefit everyone and not just the Iowa Hawkeyes wrestlers.

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Abiding by these lessons, Tom Brands himself won a world and an Olympic championship and wants the same for every NCAA wrestler. His Iowa Hawkeyes team will especially imbibe these values and look forward to surpassing Penn State and winning the team title this season. Do you think Brands’s students will be able to reign supreme by the end of the season?

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