Nelson Brands’ return sparks Iowa men’s wrestling to lopsided win

IOWA CITY — Nelson Brands has worked his way back.

The seventh-year University of Iowa wrestler and son of Iowa associate head coach Terry Brands — sidelined since December due to a lateral collateral ligament injury in his left knee — returned to the mat Sunday for the final Big Ten men’s wrestling dual of the season.

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“It felt good,” Brands said after posting seven takedowns in a 21-5 win by technical fall over Northwestern’s Aiden Vandenbush as the third-ranked Hawkeyes blitzed the Wildcats, 37-3, in front of 12,807 fans Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “It’s been a long, I wouldn’t say season, but it’s been a long road since December. Just dealing with things that are never fun to deal with, so being able to finally step on the mat again was great.”

Brands opened the season with wins in three of four matches at 174 pounds, but had not competed since a Dec. 6 dual against Princeton in the Journeymen Wrestling "Uncivil War" at Saint Charles, Mo. The recovery period for an LCL injury is typically 8-12 weeks and with the proper amount of rest, Brands was able to return one day shy of the eight-week mark.

“It has been a pain in the butt working with that,” Brands said. “But I got the right tape job going and it feels decent.”

In Brands’ absence, Iowa senior Patrick Kennedy posted a 10-3 record at 174 and worked his way to No. 11 in the InterMat rankings. It remains to be seen what Iowa does at that weight for the remainder of the season.

“It means the same that it means every day of the year for me as a coach and this program philosophically,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “That we will put the best team on the mat.”

Like Brands, No. 2 Michael Caliendo (165 pounds), No. 1 Stephen Buchanan (197) and No. 11 Ben Kueter (285) also scored wins by technical fall Sunday. For Kueter, the 20-4 victory over Northwestern’s Dirk Morley was a nice response after losing by technical fall to top-ranked Gable Steveson on Friday at No. 6 Minnesota.

“Got to get a lot better,” Kueter said. “I want to win a national title this year. That’s about it. As simple as that. … Coach was just, the last two days, talking about ‘righting the wrong,’ so that was kid of my focus going into this match. On to the next one.”

No. 8 Gabe Arnold (184) and Cullan Schriever (141) each scored wins by major decision, while No. 26 Joey Cruz (125), Jesse Ybarra (133) and third-ranked Kyle Parco (149) won by decision.

Iowa (13-1, 7-1 Big Ten) closes the regular season Feb. 23 at home against No. 2 Oklahoma State and first-year coach David Taylor, the former Penn State two-time national champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist.

"We will be training the same and getting ready the same," Nelson Brands said. "But the cool thing about an Okie State and Iowa dual is that it is just electric. Especially on a Sunday night. I think it will be really fun here. Fun for us and fun for the fans and that is all that really matters."

AT CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA

No. 3 Iowa 37, Northwestern 3

157 — No. 9 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) dec. Miguel Estrada, 4-1 (SV-1)

165 — No. 2 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) tech. fall No. 18 Maxx Mayfield, 19-4 (5:00)

174 — Nelson Brands (Iowa) tech. fall Aiden Vandenbush, 21-5 (5:12)

184 — No. 8 Gabe Arnold (Iowa) maj. dec. Jon Halvorsen, 13-2

197 — No. 1 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa) tech. fall No. 14 Evan Bates, 18-2 (6:08)

285 — No. 11 Ben Kueter (Iowa) tech. fall Dirk Morley, 20-4 (3:48)

125 — No. 26 Joey Cruz (Iowa) dec. Dedrick Navarro, 6-1

133 — Jesse Ybarra (Iowa) dec. Massey Odiotti, 7-3

141 — Cullan Schriever (Iowa) maj. dec. Luis Bazan, 9-0

149 — No. 3 Kyle Parco (Iowa) dec. No. 25 Sam Cartella, 9-2