Wednesday, November 26, 2014
No Holds Barred: Coach Tom Brands on Iowa Wrestling 2014-15
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and three-time NCAA Div. I national champion wrestler Tom Brands, who is the current head wrestling coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
Although the Iowa Hawkeyes have won 23 NCAA Div. I wrestling championships, they have not finished first since the 2009-10 season. This season, however, the early polls put their team atop the rankings, as they hope to end the four-year reign of Penn State.
We spoke with Coach Brands, now in his ninth season as head coach, by phone Tuesday.
As for these early season rankings, he said, "I think that you keep it in context like anything, and we have to do a lot of work before we get there in the end."
He continued, "There's a lot of parity out there, at least that's what people are excited about, fans and pundits are excited about. And I've never been a fan of parity. And what we do is the same whether we're ranked number one or number three. What we have to do is, we have to continue to get better every day in such a way that we widen the gap. There's no automatic, but there's also no reason why this team can't be the champion at the end."
Interestingly, he did note that while the team is ranked number one, no individual Iowa wrestler has a number one ranking now, nor are there any returning national champions on the team. But he does believe that this team has a number of wrestlers who could win national titles, including: heavyweight senior and two-time All-American Bobby Telford, 133-pound sophomore and returning All-American Cody Clark, 174-pound senior and two-time All-American Mike Evans, 125-pound sophomore and bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 2014 junior world championships Thomas Gilman, and several others.
We also discussed the importance of wrestling freestyle for college wrestlers and how the team encourages that, why college wrestling needs a "more entertaining style" to appeal to fans, why the 1982 NCAA 177-pound finals between future Olympic champions Mark Schultz of Oklahoma and Ed Banach of Iowa is still one of his favorite matches to watch, the effect the court ruling which mandates that some colleges compensate some college athletes will have on Olympic sports in college like wrestling, why "entertainment will bring in fans", this Saturday's in-state showdown with longtime rival Iowa State, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at AmericanTopTeam.com.
Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.
Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.com.
Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.
Labels: college, Eddie Goldman, freestyle, Hawkeyes, Iowa, NCAA, No Holds Barred, Tom Brands, wrestling
Friday, November 01, 2013
No Holds Barred: Coach Tom Brands of Iowa on NWCA All-Star Classic
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and three-time NCAA Div. I national champion wrestler Tom Brands, who is the current head wrestling coach of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
Before the 2013-14 regular college wrestling season starts, Coach Brands will be bringing two of his top wrestlers to compete in the 2013 edition of the NWCA All-Star Classic.
This event takes place this Saturday, November 2, at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, on the campus of George Mason University. It will be streamed live on Flowrestling, and televised in about two weeks on Fox College Sports in the U.S. at a date to be announced.
Representing the Iowa Hawkeyes will be defending NCAA champion and top-ranked Derek St. John, who will be facing Nestor Taffur of Boston University at 157 pounds, and Tony Ramos, who is top-ranked at 133 pounds, but will be wrestling at 141 at this event against Devin Carter of Virginia Tech.
We spoke with Coach Brands by phone Thursday.
"I think it's a good thing when you have guys that are willing to put things on the line where there's probably what I would say, there's a lot of ego at stake and it's not just 'give me the matchup that serves me the best'. These are real matchups, I think four or five of them in the lineup, where it could go to either guy, looking at it on paper," he said.
"When you have that type of event, I think you're going to have the potential to do what maybe the All-Star meet is supposed to do, and that's really bring a lot of attention to it and really fire people up and get people onboard for the season and even internationally. There's going to be some future matchups there as well. So a lot going on."
The complete and loaded lineup for the 2013 NWCA All-Star Classic is:
125: Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) vs. Nashon Garrett (Cornell)
133: A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) vs. Mason Beckman (Lehigh)
141: Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) vs. Tony Ramos (Iowa)
149: Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) vs. Logan Stieber (Ohio State)
157: Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. Nestor Taffur (Boston U.)
165: David Taylor (Penn State) vs. Michael Moreno (Iowa State)
174: Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) vs. Matt Brown (Penn State)
184: Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) vs. Jake Swartz (Boise State)
197: Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) vs. Scott Schiller (Minnesota)
HWT: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) vs. Mike McMullan (Northwestern)
There will also be several exhibition feature matches.
We also discussed how he views the Iowa Hawkeyes and their potential to win another national title this season, why wrestling needs to improve the way the sport is promoted and "at least we appear like we're big budget", why wrestling needs "to get the right people in the right place" to promote and market the sport, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.
Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at http://defensesoap.com.
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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: college, Eddie Goldman, freestyle, Hawkeyes, Iowa, NCAA, No Holds Barred, NWCA All-Star Classic, Tom Brands, wrestling
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
No Holds Barred: Kevin Jackson, New Iowa State Wrestling Head Coach
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with wrestling legend Kevin Jackson, who has just been named the head wrestling coach for the Iowa State Cyclones. Kevin Jackson has been an Olympic and world champion wrestler, as well as a mixed martial arts fighter in UFC and Extreme Fighting.
We had a lengthy and in-depth discussion about his new position as well as many issues facing the sport of wrestling. Among the topics were the importance to him of returning to coach at Iowa State, where Kevin was an All-American wrestler and a member of the 1987 team, the last time Iowa State won an NCAA team championship; the storied rivalry between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones; what Iowa State can do to recapture an NCAA title; the ongoing support of wrestling from the Iowa State fans and supporters, known as Cyclone Nation; Cyclone wrestling history and culture; the plans to enhance the training of college wrestlers in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling; some of the problems with the ever-changing rules of international wrestling; why many college wrestlers have been turning to mixed martial arts; how college wrestling can better market and promote itself; the important role of African-American wrestling coaches; and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.
FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Fair Deal for Atlantic City Dealers, a campaign organized by an alliance of casino workers and unions in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to fight for justice in the gaming industry and achieve a fair deal for all casino workers.
Labels: Cael Sanderson, college wrestling, Cyclones, Dan Gable, Eddie Goldman, freestyle wrestling, Hawkeyes, Iowa, Iowa State, Kevin Jackson, NCAA, No Holds Barred, Penn State, Terry Brands, Tom Brands
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
NO HOLDS BARRED: Tom Brands, John Smith, and the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Champions
On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman reviews the 2008 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championship, which were held March 20-22 in St. Louis, Missouri.
We have comments from all ten of the individual champions: Angel Escobedo of Indiana (125), Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State (133), J. Jaggers of Ohio State (141), Brent Metcalf of Iowa (149), Jordan Leen of Cornell (157), Mark Perry of Iowa (165), Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh (174), Mike Pucillo of Ohio State (184), Phil Davis of Penn State (197), and Dustin Fox of Northwestern (285).
We spoke with Tom Brands, head coach of the 2008 national champion Iowa Hawkeyes, and John Smith, head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
We also plan to have more interviews from this event later this week.
To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here and just press the play button on the player.
You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).
You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player.
Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.
The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.
NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
YAMMA Pit Fighting. The producers of the original UFC and Live Nation, worldwide leaders in live entertainment, present YAMMA Pit Fighting mixed martial arts. On the streets, it's against the law. In the pit, it IS the law.
IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.
Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.
FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Labels: Angel Escobedo, Brent Metcalf, Coleman Scott, Dustin Fox, Eddie Goldman, J. Jaggers, John Smith, Jordan Leen, Keith Gavin, Mark Perry, Mike Pucillo, No Holds Barred, Phil Davis, Tom Brands, wrestling
