Cal Poly adds Nelson Brands as assistant coach
Cal Poly has hired Nelson Brands as an assistant wrestling coach, head coach Jon Sioredas announced Wednesday.
Brands comes to San Luis Obispo after a seven-year career at the University of Iowa from 2018-25. A two-time NCAA qualifier and two-time Academic All-American, Brands earned All-America honors in 2022-23, placing fifth at 174 pounds after entering the NCAA Championships as the No. 11 seed. He went 5-2 at the tournament, defeating five top-15 nationally ranked opponents en route to the quarterfinals. Brands finished his Iowa career with a 59-21 overall record, placed fourth at the Big Ten Championships in 2021 and fifth in 2023, and was ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in 2020-21.
Before arriving at Iowa, Brands was one of the most dominant prep wrestlers in the state, winning three Iowa state titles at Iowa City West High School at 138 pounds (2016), 152 pounds (2017) and 160 pounds (2018). He was a four-time Mississippi Valley Conference Super Meet champion and the only wrestler ever named the meet's Outstanding Wrestler in all four years.
After wrapping up his collegiate career, Brands served as head wrestling coach at Regina High School in Iowa City this past season, leading the program to a winning dual record and multiple top-five tournament finishes. He also worked as an assistant coach with the Eastern Iowa Wrestling Club and has served as a clinician at camps across the country.
Brands carries one of the most accomplished names in American wrestling. His father Terry Brands is a two-time World champion, Olympic bronze medalist and two-time NCAA champion who spent years as associate head coach at Iowa. His uncle Tom Brands is an Olympic gold medalist, three-time NCAA champion and the current head coach of the Hawkeyes.
Brands joins a Cal Poly program that has earned a top-25 national ranking for six straight seasons, qualified at least four wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in each of the past five years and set program records for Pac-12 individual champions and placers at both the Cliff Keen Invitational and Midlands Championships.