Brands: Biggest prize still awaits for top-ranked Hawkeyes as national duals loom

IOWA CITY - Tom Brands knows the biggest prize for his top-ranked wrestling team still is a month away.

But that doesn't mean there aren't other rewards along the way.

'To run the table is important to me,” Brands said.

The championship season begins today when the Hawkeyes host the final rounds of the National Duals with another chance to run that table.

Iowa (15-0) opens today's action against Tennessee-Chattanooga at noon, one of three duals on the Carver-Hawkeye Arena floor. Missouri (21-0) is seeded second and meets Illinois (13-4). Third-seeded Ohio State (13-3) takes on Lehigh (13-4) and No. 4 Minnesota (11-2) gets Cornell (15-1).

The winners meet in 3 p.m. semifinals at will be televised by BTN. The championship and consolation dual are Sunday, starting at 11:30 a.m., also televised by BTN.

Brands said running the tables means many things, but it starts with an unbeaten dual season and includes titles at the Midlands (already done), Big Ten and National Duals tournaments, and ends with an NCAA title.

But today is all Brands is focused on.

'Your best wrestling is your next competition,” he said. 'This National Duals is a big deal, it's a feather in your cap.

'We are peaking for this.”

All 10 Iowa wrestlers are ranked in the various college wrestling polls, from No. 2 Brandon Sorensen at 149 pounds to No. 9 Nick Moore at 165. Sorensen has a team-high 29 wins - and just two losses - and Thomas Gillman (23-1) at 125 and Mike Evans (22-3) at 174 have lost just once. Heavyweight Bobby Telford is 21-2.

Brands said this is a great way to get ready for next months' Big Ten and NCAA championships.

'This is a way to sharpen your knife,” he said. 'We want to move forward ... and it's a hell of a lot easier to move forward when you're having success.

'But nothing is easy.”