Glen Brand Passes Away

Glen Brand, a native Iowan who became one of the greatest wrestlers in American history, died November 15 in Omaha. An Olympic champion in 1948, Brand was 85 years old when he passed away. He was the namesake for the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa, which is located in the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa.

Brand was a good high school athlete who really hit his stride during his college career. Though he qualified for the state tournament twice while wrestling at Clarion High School, he did not place in the meet. He was drafted in the Marine Corps at age 18 and served during World War II as a radio operator, spending over two years on Guam. After discharge, he enrolled at Iowa State College (now University) in Ames, and was torn between football and wrestling.

Hugo Otopalik, the Cyclone coach, talked Glen into wrestling and it turned out to be a great decision for ISU, Brand and the entire sport of wrestling. Weighing just 190 pounds, he finished third in the NCAA meet at heavyweight in 1946. His second season, 1947, he was undefeated at 174 pounds – until losing a close match in the NCAA finals to Joe Scarpello, of the University of Iowa.

His junior season was sensational. Brand went 11-0 in duals and captured the NCAA championship at the 1948 tournament. It was also an Olympic year, and Brand made the United States team by reeling off seven straight wins. In the finals, he emerged with a hard-fought victory over Scarpello, who he had also defeated in the NCAA semifinals earlier that season.

In the 1948 Olympics held in London, Brand won all four of his matches to claim the gold medal in the 174-pound class. After his return to Iowa, he was given a hero's welcome in Clarion, with over 7,000 fans turning out for a parade in his honor.

Heading into his senior year at Iowa State, with an Olympic gold medal in his trophy case, Brand was heavily favored to win his second NCAA title. But a severe shoulder injury knocked him out of the lineup for the entire 1949 season. He came back in 1950 and won four matches, all by pin, but an emergency appendectomy just before the NCAA tournament ended his career.

Brand was 51-3 in college with 34 consecutive wins. He always worked for the fall and had 30 pins in his 54 matches, including one in just 23 seconds. Many sports fans at Iowa State felt the Clarion star was the primary reason for a resurgence in wrestling interest at Iowa State. Crowds were in the area of 3,000 per match when Brand wrestled, far more than in previous years.

“Coach Otopalik is forced to admit that Brand is the most colorful wrestler he has coached since he came to Iowa State more than 25 years ago,” said a story in the student paper. “And don't think Otopalik hasn't seen a lot of wrestling. And coached a lot of champions.

“Ever since this sensational mat ace came to Iowa State, he has been a popular and colorful wrestler among sports writers and sports fans. Brand is a favorite among these spectators because he has reached the point of near perfection in wrestling. Not only has he reached near perfection in wrestling itself, but he has reached near perfection in sportsmanship. If you don't think so, ask anyone who has seen him wrestle.”

Otopalik said there were four main reasons for Brand's great success: (1) his natural athletic ability, (2) his hard work ethic; (3) unusual speed for a man his size, and (4) superior wrestling knowledge. Brand himself always insisted it was his devotion to hard training that gave him the edge.

“You have to be prepared and you have to be determined,” he once said. “Those are the two key ingredients in success in any field, in sports or in life.”

He carried the same philosophy into his business career. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering and by 1983 he owned two companies in Omaha – Brand Hydraulics and Brand Fluid Power. The companies had over 40 employees and 50 distributors around the world. He designed many of the products that were produced and sold.

When it came to leisure activities, he loved wrestling and fishing. He journeyed to Canada several times a year to fish and attended nearly every NCAA tournament since World War II. He contributed to the well being of the sport on numerous levels, and has two college tournaments named after him in Omaha and an annual high school tournament in Clarion. Visitors to the high school in Clarion are greeted by a life-size figure of Glen in the gym.

In 1999, Sports Illustrated selected the top 50 sports figures in every state. Glen was picked 34 th on the Iowa list, ahead of many football, baseball and basketball stars. He is also one of 34 wrestlers profiled in the 2006 book, Legends of the Mat, and is a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

One of his finest compliments came in 2002, when he was inducted into inaugural class of the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa in the Dan Gable Museum. It came from Bill Farrell, CEO of TW Promotions and 1972 Olympic freestyle coach.

“Glen Brand has always set a very high standard in anything that he does,” said Farrell, member of many halls of fame himself. “They just don't come any finer. It is a great honor for anyone to be inducted into a hall of fame named for such a great man.”

“This is a huge loss for wrestling,” said Mike Chapman, executive director of the Gable museum, reflecting on Brand's passing. “Glen Brand was one of the classiest people in the history of wrestling. Every time he came in the museum, he was smiling and happy to be around the sport. We were very honored that he allowed us to use his name with the Iowa hall of fame, and his accomplishments will be celebrated as long as wrestling is practiced anywhere in this country.”