The Brands Brothers
- Thread starter Mike_a_TetonValley
- Start date
This is 2020 somehow that is racist right? They better change that name to something fluffy and G rated
Regarding Sheldon, Iowa. Other than the Brands, has there ever been another wrestler (anyone) attend Sheldon High School? Who? Where did the Brands develope as wrestlers. Who tutored/coached the Brands during their early years. Is northwest Iowa noted for strong wrestling programs? Just trying to understand how these guys developed.
yes, Sheldon has had several good wrestlers....if you are asking if they have developed Olympic caliber wrestlers, then no. But they have has several good kids go through there. Where did they develop? Local youth club and several camps. There were no private club wrestling back then...now we have the Sebolts, Legends of Gold, Young Guns, etc.... Northwest Iowa has been spotty in regards to quality wrestling, it also depends on your geographical assumption....if you call Sioux City NW Iowa, then yes. Colton McCrystal comes to mind....I think you are about to see a large uptick in quality wrestling in NW Iowa...LEgends of Gold has had a strong influence in the West Sioux program and it shows...move a little east and Ironhawk has produced 7 collegiate wrestlers in the last 3 years...further east and that runs into Sebolt country. Understand I am just giving a generalization...Legends of Gold is based in SD and I believe, but don't quote me, produced something like 10 state champs in SD alone...could be more. Ironhawk has half the program out of Minnesota....hell, his kids alone could have won most of the duals for Fairmont/MCW (State Runners up)....and we all know about Sebolt... Now, I will say this, you aren't going to see a SE Polk, ICWest back in the day, or even a Lewis Central of the 90's-2000's...but you do get individuals who shine
In regards to Brands, its like these youth clubs....its the partners that matter.....they happen to be related to a damn good partner. They pushed each other.
Josh Ihnen is from Sheldon. AA for Nebby a couple years back.
Sheldon also had another Olympian, but in Hammerthrow I believe.
Sheldon also had another Olympian, but in Hammerthrow I believe.
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There were private clubs in Waterloo when they were growing up and one of of the first and best ever. Lot of state champs. Best club in Iowa ever and it’s not even close.
They were naturals. A couple of older wrestlers from Sheldon took them under their wings when young. (Randy Fekes and his older brother.)
Galen Nelson was their coach in HS. I was in Nelson’s room for a few years after he first arrived in Seldom. You’ll never convince me that he had anything to do with their stellar development.
Emmetsburg had a tough program in NW Iowa for years. Jeff Kerber came out of that Lakes Conference powerhouse.
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AG Kruger 3x Olympian in the Hammer Throw. Played Football and Track at Morningside. Now coaches Throws at USD.
Not a ton of accolades from the Sheldon room. Other than that little run in the mid-80s, it's been a whole lot of lean years. They've been co-op with South O'Brien since about 2003. State qualifiers are occasional.
0 team titles (4th in 86, 2nd in 87)
State champs (8):
Doug Fischer (HWT, 80)
Jeff Schwarz (SHWT, 84)
Terry Brands (98#, 85; 105#, 86)
Tom Brands (112#, 86)
Troy Budden (112#, 87)
Ed Huff (SHWT, 87)
Josh Ihnen (189#, 08)
0 team titles (4th in 86, 2nd in 87)
State champs (8):
Doug Fischer (HWT, 80)
Jeff Schwarz (SHWT, 84)
Terry Brands (98#, 85; 105#, 86)
Tom Brands (112#, 86)
Troy Budden (112#, 87)
Ed Huff (SHWT, 87)
Josh Ihnen (189#, 08)
My sister lives in Boji so we have plenty of gear representing the Estherville Lincoln Central Fighting Midgets. By far the best mascot out there, just above the banana slugs
Jeff Schwartz is in the record book for the fastest fall in the state finals at ten seconds. Interestingly, he has another fall at 12 seconds in the semifinals that same year. Thats insane.
Why is that? I hear that a lot, but Rich Morgan to my knowledge has had almost no involvement with Sheldon wrestling since then. Thats not to throw shade at him. Rich is a good guy and owns the Morgan Collision and Tire in Sheldon, but why does he deserve credit for the Brands? What did he do for them?
Im torn on this topic. Clubs are great, yes, but sometimes they come at expense of grassroots, local team development. Take Sheldon for example. Josh Ihnen was a stud, traveled everywhere for practice, but there was little done to develop the rest of his local team whereas McCrystal came through and was part of a very solid team. He had a large influence on that team and he would probably credit his high school team and practices far more than he would ever credit some club team.
Ive seen far to many kids buy into this belief that all they need is a club and they get into high school with zero practice partners and have coaches that are focused on only one kids development. The result? Everyone falls short with Ihnen being the exception not the rule.
Im of the opinion that clubs should not be the be all, end all of talent development and in the end it is a poor strategy. Its better to practice with and develop other kids in your community who will be your future teamates and who you will practice with 5 months out of the year. Then you use clubs as a supplement to that. I think focus on clubs have come at the expense of wrestling in smaller communities.
The net effect hurts depth in Iowa and participation.
No. Not named after Galen Nelson, but a relative, I believe.
Galen Nelson was not much of a coach, imo.
I don’t know. Hoopeston Illinois might be above those two.
You will hear Hoopeston cheerleaders yell:
Go Jerkers!!!
I cant speak to him as a high school coach, but I know a bunch of guys who had him as a middle school wrestling coach who would disagree with you. He taught the kids to work, embrace the weightroom and got a bunch of kids out.
It didnt result in a ton of success at the high school level and I dont put that on him as the high school program wasnt great and the school refused to support it. However, some of those guys went on to find success in other sports and would give a ton of credit to Galen.
He’d make a good middle school coach. That sounds about right.
We had Vander Vleet as Jr high coach and Thayer as head coach before Nelson. I’d take either guy any day of the week.
Nelson was not respected by the “leaders,” on the teams his first few years.
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Mr. Vander Vliet(greg maybe. Not sure) is a great guy. Not too knowledgeable, but made things fun.
In some of these clubs you're going against state champs and college level wrestlers each practice. Unfortunately, HS just don't have enough good partners so yeah, they need the clubs more likely then not to reach the next level.
What was Galen Nelson's background? Did he wrestle in college? I'll bet the roster number was 40 when the Brands wrestled.
I wonder if Morgan was related to the Morgan's from Eagle Grove. There was a Dave Morgan who was a state champ from EG in the mid seventies at 105.
I wonder if Morgan was related to the Morgan's from Eagle Grove. There was a Dave Morgan who was a state champ from EG in the mid seventies at 105.
You dont need to pay to go to an expensive club to wrestle college kids. Call a local small college and ask when they have open mat.
Jeez, there are a lot more Orabs here than I realized.
I'll concur with the statement about Nelson as a HS coach. Not very impressed. I'd probably take Naig over Nelson at that level. McWilliams...that was one weird dude.
At the very least, it was nice to never have to forfeit a weight class due to lack of bodies.
I'll concur with the statement about Nelson as a HS coach. Not very impressed. I'd probably take Naig over Nelson at that level. McWilliams...that was one weird dude.
At the very least, it was nice to never have to forfeit a weight class due to lack of bodies.
You win on hilarity....but Midgets win on ironic-ness in a pc world. Wasn't there some school in Cali that were the "Arabs?" I swear they always had a dude with a sword riding a camel come through on the field before football games.... but this is a 40 year old man trying to remember a CBS Sunday Morning piece from years agoI don’t know. Hoopeston Illinois might be above those two.
You will hear Hoopeston cheerleaders yell:
Go Jerkers!!!
Vander Vliet taught me a smooth stand up/escape with hip action to create distance!
Dude, I can speak of GN as a high school coach. No need for me to talk to others or imagine what that room was like. I was there from his first day in Seldom.
Nelson was the only teacher or coach I saw my mom get into it with. Ever. Lol
from what I hear they developed as wrestlers in the womb.... and then their basement.... one of my favorite stories is when Royce Algers went with Gable on a visit to their home and saw all the holes in the wall and blood....
I know there was a school in Pekin, Illinois called the Pekin Chinks.
Ever hear of the Cobden Appleknockers?I don’t know. Hoopeston Illinois might be above those two.
You will hear Hoopeston cheerleaders yell:
Go Jerkers!!!
Fun thread, Googled and found a couple of links:
https://11points.com/11-mind-blowing-often-offensive-high-school-mascots/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/offensive-mascots_n_4277317
https://11points.com/11-mind-blowing-often-offensive-high-school-mascots/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/offensive-mascots_n_4277317
Man he was a terrible teacher. Had him in Jr high and even though I was a wrestler I couldn't fade him.
Dude lucked into a pretty solid string of wrestlers in Brands, Buddens, Schmidt, Huffs. That well dried up pretty quick.
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