BRANDED BY BRENT
Metcalf followed example of future college coach
When Virginia Tech coach Tom Brands signed Brent Metcalf to a college scholarship last November, no one should have been surprised.
It didn’t matter that Brands had hardly even coached the Hokies in his first season as Tech’s mentor. For Metcalf may have committed to Brands long before the former Hawkeye national champion and Olympic champion stepped foot in Blacksburg.
“(Brent) was probably in fifth grade,” recalled Metcalf’s coach Roy Hall about a moment the Davison, Mich., coach used to motivate his future prep All-American … and most likely united Metcalf with Brands forever … when he inserted a videotape of Brands in the home VC
R of Metcalf.“(Coach Hall) said if you want to be successful, this is what you need to be like,” recalled Metcalf, who went on to win four state titles for Hall and emotionally committed to his future college coach that night.
Or at least his style.
“Ironically, from the get-go, Tom Brands has been the guy,” said Metcalf.
“I was a year younger than the Brands and that was the way in my head it was supposed to be done,” Hall said. “(Metcalf) took it to heart. He’s an incredible athlete and is very coachable. I was his coach and he trusted me. That’s what I said and that’s what he did.”
And that’s why Metcalf welcomes comparisons to his and Brands’ in-your-face approach to wrestling that helped Brands win three straight NCAA championships (1990-92), a world championship (1993) and Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta.
“If I stay in someone’s face, he’s going to break down and there is going to be an opening where you catch him,” said Metcalf, adding that’s what happened when he turned and caught Matt Dragon on his back and pinned the Pennsylvania All-American in the 145-pound finals of the Asics Vaughan USAW Fargo Junior Nationals.
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