birth_place headercolor birth_date article_title name
omaha , nebraska , u.s. lightsteelblue april 9 , 1968 tom brands
 tom brands
tom brands

tom brands -lrb- born april 9 , 1968 in omaha , nebraska -rrb- is an american former olympic wrestler and is currently the head wrestling coach for the university of iowa .
he won a gold medal in the 1996 summer olympics .
an intense competitor , brands ' wrestling career with the university of iowa included a record of 158-7-2 and an undefeated season in 1991 where he was 45-0 .
he was a four-time all-american , three-time ncaa champion , three-time big ten conference champion , and outstanding wrestler at the 1992 ncaa tournament .
his brother , terry , was also a standout at iowa .
internationally , brands won a gold medal at the 1996 atlanta olympics in freestyle at 136.5 pounds ; a gold medal at the 1993 world freestyle championships in toronto ; two world cup gold medals -lrb- 1994 and 1995 -rrb- ; and the gold at the 1995 pan american games .
he won four u.s. nationals titles -lrb- 1993 -- 96 -rrb- and made four straight u.s. world or olympic teams -lrb- 1993 -- 96 -rrb- .
he was named 1993 usa wrestling athlete of the year , 1993 john smith outstanding freestyle wrestler , and 1993 amateur wrestling news man of the year .
he was inducted into the national wrestling hall of fame in 2001 .
