Wrestling Media Day Notebook

Iowa wrestling is back, and it seems like a whole new team with a whole new Tom Brands.

Brands was candid on Wednesday at the team’s media day when it came to the way he’s been forced to evolve when it comes to recruiting, especially.

He credited a lot of that to freshman and touted recruit Spencer Lee’s father, Larry, who Brands said kept a “portfolio of gold intel” on how the Hawkeyes have been and are being recruited against by a few “You Know Who’s.”

Although Brands would not elaborate on which teams are using the “You Know Who’s,” it’s fair to assume programs such as Penn State and Ohio State are a couple of them.

Brands has always been one to not worry about the outside noise and focus on what is in front of him, but finding out that news from the Lee family opened up his eyes. Rather than brushing off the negative recruiting, Brands is taking it with a grain of salt in order to go after the guys that he wants.

“It surprises me because [I’ve been] so looking inside… ‘One thing about Brands, he doesn't care what people think about him,’ “ Brands said during his press conference. “Well, you know what, I do care when people think about me now because they are using it against us. ‘We don't have any funds,’ ‘we're robots.’ “

Luckily for the Hawkeyes, Lee looked past the negative things other programs were saying about Iowa and Brands, and chose to come to Iowa City.

“It’s not what people say it is. We’re not the Big Bad Wolf. We get a lot of that negative recruiting because of how we wrestle, how the coaches are in the corner,” Lee said. “That’s the only thing people really see, and some people don’t really like that. They hear a lot of things about how they burn people out and how people are not enjoying their time here, but I don’t know how you couldn’t. This place is awesome.”

New facilities

It’s been 34 years since the wrestling team has gotten an update to its practice facility, and Brands made sure to let everyone know he was well aware of that.

Though it was in its time, decades ago, the practice room is no longer one of the top ones in the country. New Brands knows that in order to get those recruits in the doors, the Hawkeyes have to have a top-notch facility.

The team has made steps with donors and the administration toward getting new facilities built in a similar location to where they are now — Brands wants to keep the practice room connected to the arena.

“The bottom line is, that's not how the guys that we're trying to get in here, that's not how they think, and we need to show… the best kids in the country, the best athletes, wrestlers in the country, we need to show them that we are committed to them and their well-being through this process,” Brands said. “You know, it doesn't matter how Brands trained and his methods. It's 34 years old, and 34 years old is 34 years old. It's time.”

Stoll back (again)

After suffering not one, but two ACL injuries over his career, Sam Stoll is ready to wrestle again.

Stoll, now a junior, missed the NCAA tournament his freshman year because of the injury. He made it back at the halfway point of his sophomore year before injuring his knee again at Oklahoma State and missing the remaining three months of the season.

During his recovery the second time around, Stoll has focused on keeping his weight down to stay lighter on his feet and gain some agility.

“I feel really good. When I’m down around the ’60-’65 range, I’ve always had the most success,” Stoll said. “I’ve always felt really good around there.”