Tom Brands on National Duals Invitational: 'We are excited about it'

The NWCA announced a new National Duals Invitational and Iowa coach Tom Brands seems to be on board.

The National Duals Invitational will invite 16 top D1 teams to compete for a dual championship title to begin next season featuring a $1 million purse. There’s been conversations about dual meets growing and getting more shine to increase popularity in college wrestling but there’s speculation some top programs are hesitant about the move.

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Iowa being among them, that doesn’t seem to be the case based on what Brands said. In fact, Iowa very well could be one of the 16 teams invited in November.

“There has been a lot of in-depth dialogue and we are excited about it,” Brands said, via Eli McKown. “We’re very excited about it. I think there are other opportunities there as well.”

Iowa has a long history of storied wrestling with individual national champions and legendary coaches, including Brands and Dan Gable before him. The latter is considered one of, if not the greatest college wrestler ever and greatest college wrestling coach in history.

For Brands and the Hawkeyes to be on display at the National Duals Invitational would be a sight. Perhaps others, like host school Oklahoma State, could meet them in the finals!

“When teams are announced, there are some things that are even above and beyond that and that’s exciting for a program, especially a program like University of Iowa wrestling,” Brands said.

The news Tuesday was met with a lot of positive reaction as the National Duals have been going on, but scheduling and lack of the top tier programs being involved put the event to the side, mostly.

But there seems to be a new buzz and if a coach like Brands is on board, the logical next step would be to see where Penn State coach Cael Sanderson stands. So far, he’s been indifferent or non-committal on this type of event.

NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer released a statement regarding the news.

“Hosting the National Duals Invitational by our fantastic sponsor, Paycom, is a game-changer for D1 wrestling,” Moyer said. “Due to the unprecedented challenges in NCAA Division I athletics today, it is more imperative than ever to have more big moments in intercollegiate wrestling so we can substantially grow our fan base and viewership.”

The top eight teams in the 16-team bracket, as duals progress, will receive payouts. The winner of the National Duals Invitational will receive $200,000. 

Second and third place will receive $150,000 while fourth place gets $75,000. Fifth through eighth place will earn between $50,000 and $20,000 in the end.

“I am excited for the sport of wrestling to have a competitive field at the inaugural National Duals Invitational,” said Chad Richison, Paycom’s founder and CEO. “Investing in student athletes and non-income-generating sports is important in today’s ever-evolving collegiate landscape.”