For the second-straight season, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has named Iowa wrestling head coach Tom Brands it National Coach of the Year.

Brands has now received the honor three times in his career, as he was previously recognized by the NWCA 2008 and 2020.

Brands’ Hawkeyes have been ranked No. 1 in the NWCA’s top 25 poll since the Big Ten wrestling season began in January.

Four of Brands’ wrestlers — 125-pound Spencer Lee, 141-pound Jaydin Eierman, 165-pound Alex Marinelli, and 174-pound Michael Kemerer — won individual crowns at the 2021 Big Ten Championships in State College, Pennsylvania, two weeks ago as the Hawkeyes coasted to a conference team title by over 35 points.

After the Big Ten Championships, Brands was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

The NWCA National Coach of the Year award is presented to an individual that has demonstrated outstanding effort throughout the season in developing and elevating their program on campus and in their community.

“On behalf of the NWCA and our Board of Directors, it is my privilege to award coach Tom Brands, for the second year in a row, the NWCA Division I National Coach of the Year award,” NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer said in a release. “Tom continues to do a phenomenal job at Iowa and this season has been another demonstration of the strength of the Hawkeye wrestling program.  Good luck to coach Brands and his squad this week as they compete at the NCAA Championships.”

Iowa wresting will begin its national title bid Thursday in St. Louis, Missouri, at the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.