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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands has been named 2020 InterMat Coach of the Year, the amateur wrestling website announced Friday.
This award, presented each year since 2006 to the best college wrestling coach in all divisions for his/her college wrestling coaching performance during the 2019-2020 season, is based exclusively on the balloting of writers at InterMat. Brands won the award with eight of 10 first-place votes, and 84 total points. Princeton’s Chris Ayers was second with 39 points.
Brands led the Hawkeyes to the top of every national ranking this season, posting a 13-0 dual record and 9-0 Big Ten Conference record. The Hawkeyes won the 2020 Big Ten Championships, crowing three individual champions and scoring 157.5 points, its highest total since 1995. Brands was named Big Ten Coach of the Year, and junior Spencer Lee was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.
The Hawkeyes entered the 2020 NCAA Championships with three top seeds, nine wrestlers seeded eighth or better, and another seeded 11th. Iowa was the favorite to win the NCAA team title. It would have been its 24th team title in program history.
Iowa also led the nation in attendance for the 14th straight year, setting a NCAA dual record average of 12,568.
