Hokies taking on coach's Brands
When Tom Brands landed the head coaching position at Virginia Tech a year and a half ago, he provided his wife Jeni with simple instructions when shopping for a house.
“I told her I wanted a place where I can throw the keys on the kitchen counter for 20 years,” Brands said. “We’re in it for the long haul.”
It’s only year 2 of the Brands era in Blacksburg, Va., but he already is starting to build something special as the Hokies have made huge strides from last season. That was evident when Virginia Tech made a strong showing Nov. 19 at Nebraska-Omaha’s Kaufman-Brand Open.
Senior David Hoffman, a holdover from the previous coaching regime at Tech, made the strongest impression in Omaha. The three-time national qualifier hammered No. 14 Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa by a 14-3 major decision in the 141-pound finals. Ho
ffman was ranked 12th at 133, but has moved up a class.Hoffman employed a physical, attacking style — reminiscent of how Brands wrestled — in rolling to the lopsided win over Tsirtsis.
“Hoffman is buying into what we’re doing,” Brands said. “The key in the finals was he kept working to win by major decision. We want guys to be ready to go and we want them to stay tough the whole time.”
Hoffman won a tough 141-pound class that included All-American Daniel Frishkorn of Oklahoma State, 12th-ranked Josh Wooton of Northern Illinois and Division III national champ Dustin Hinschberger of Wartburg. The fourth-ranked Frishkorn placed sixth, Wooton third and Hinschberger fourth.
Virginia Tech senior Steve Borja placed third at 184 in the open division and classmate Mike Faust was sixth at heavyweight.
The Hokies’ stable of standout newcomers — including true freshmen Brent Metcalf (149), Danny LeClere (141), Jay Borschel (174) and Joey Slaton (133) — also made an impact. Metcalf placed third in the open division while Borschel and LeClere won titles in the 20-and-under division and Slaton was second.
“This is just a little bitty baby step along the way of what we want to accomplish,” Brands said. “We have a long, long way to go. The future does look good, but we have to keep building every day to keep going in the right direction. Our practice room is much tougher. Guys have to fight every day.
“We want more. We’re greedy. We want 10 champions in both tournaments in an event like this. We want to pillage the towns we go to.”
Metcalf suffered a 2-1 semifinal loss to Iowa’s No. 4 Ty Eustice, a 2005 All-American. The match was tied 1-1 late in the bout when Metcalf was called for grabbing Eustice’s headgear. That point decided the match.
“They called it that way, but I’m not sure he grabbed it,” Brands said. “Metcalf’s made quite a bit of progress, and so have the other guys. They have great work ethics and attitudes, and come from great families.”
Brands said he may redshirt his gifted crop of true freshman. His recruiting class was ranked second nationally.
“It’s looking that way,” he said of redshirting them. “We’re still making up our mind.”
Brands said the improvement Hoffman has shown is a direct result of the stronger (You can read the rest of this article by subscribing to W.I.N. Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)