Brent Metcalf's Beastly Hit List
Brent Metcalf's Beastly Hit List
Brent Metcalf's career included a hit list full of absolute beasts. The list of World and Olympic champs and medalists, and NCAA champs is unbelievable.
Unlock this article, live events, and more with a subscription!
Already a subscriber? Log In
Brent Metcalf was a generational Hawkeye from 2007-2010 and a staple on the senior level until 2016. During that time he racked up an incredible hit list that includes World and Olympic champions and medalists, and NCAA champions. Before episode 1 of Metcalf drops this week, get caught up on his beastly hit list.
Watch METCALF Episode 1 on FloWrestling
Even as a high schooler, wrestling fans suspected that Brent Metcalf would be great, but few have achieved the college dominance and international consistency of Metcalf. Take a look at the giants Metcalf slayed during his career.
World/Olympic Champions
Jordan Burroughs: 2012 Olympic gold; 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 World gold; 2014, 2018, 2019 World bronze
Kendall Cross: 1996 Olympic gold
Soslan Ramonov: 2014 world champ, 2015 World bronze, 2016 Olympic champ
Magomed Kurbanaliev: 2013 World bronze, 2016 World gold
Zaurbek Sidakov: 2018, 2019 World gold
World/Olympic Medalists
Jordan Burroughs: 2012 Olympic gold; 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 World gold; 2014, 2018, 2019 World bronze
Kendall Cross: 1996 Olympic gold
Jabrayil Hasanov: 2010, 2011, 2016; World/Olympic bronze; 2018, 2019 World silver
Franklin Gomez: 2011 World silver
Soslan Ramonov: 2014 world champ, 2015 World bronze, 2016 Olympic champ
Ikhtiyor Navruzov: 2015 World silver, 2016 Olympic bronze
Mandakhnaran Ganzorig: 2013 & 2014 World bronze medalist
Magomed Kurbanaliev: 2013 World bronze, 2016 World gold
Masoud Esmailpour: 2013 World bronze, 2014 World silver
Akhmed Chakaev: 2016, 2018 World bronze
Zaurbek Sidakov: 2018, 2019 World gold
Magomedmurad Gadzhiev: 2017 World silver, 2019 World bronze
Alexander Kontoev: 2001 World bronze
Zaur Botaev: 2002 World bronze medalist
NCAA Champions
Bubba Jenkins: 2011 NCAA Champion
Dustin Schlatter: 2006 NCAA Champion
Jordan Burroughs: 2009, 2011 NCAA Champion
Darrion Caldwell: 2009 NCAA Champion
Doug Schwab: 1999 NCAA Champion
Kendall Cross: 1989 NCAA Champion
Teyon Ware: 2003, 2005 NCAA Champion
Frank Molinaro: 2012 NCAA Champion
Jordan Oliver: 2011, 2013 NCAA Champion
Kellen Russell: 2011, 2012 NCAA Champion
College Career
Brent Metcalf had an asterisk to start his career. His transfer from Virginia Tech to Iowa made sense because of Tom Brands' move from the head coaching role at VT to the top Hawkeye, but that did mean that Metcalf missed a season of eligibility and only had three years to compete. As a result, his first season of competition was his redshirt sophomore year.
During the 2007-2008 season, Metcalf ushered in the new Tom Brands Hawkeye era. He won the 2007 Midlands with wins over Jake Patacsil and Mitch Mueller. At the Big Ten Championships, Metcalf knocked off NCAA champs in successive matches, beating Bubba Jenkins in the semis and Dustin Schlatter in the finals.
This set up Metcalf's participation into perhaps the greatest NCAA field of all time, the 2008 149-pound bracket. In that tournament, Metcalf knocked off five-time World and Olympic champ Jordan Burroughs, eventual NCAA finalist Lance Palmer, and NCAA champ Bubba Jenkins. That's a ridiculous gauntlet, but Metcalf ran it in style and proved his legendary status in his first year of college eligibility.
At the beginning of Metcalf's Junior season, he took out eventual NCAA champ Darrion Caldwell in dominant fashion and capped off the first half of the year with a midlands title that included wins over all-Americans Steve Brown and Kyle Ruschell.
At the Big Ten Championships, Metcalf once again knocked off Ruschell and Jenkins. At NCAA's, he cruised through all-Americans Kyle Terry and Lance Palmer before falling in dramatic fashion to Darrion Caldwell in the finals.
Metcalf rebounded for his senior year. He won Midlands again. At the Big Ten Championships, he won eventual NCAA champ Frank Molinaro before falling to Lance Palmer in the finals. Metcalf avenged that loss in the NCAA finals and also beat all-Americans Kyle Borschoff and Kyle Terry along the way.
He finished his three years of eligibility as a two-time NCAA champ and three-time finalist. The wrestling world knew that Metcalf would be coming for senior-level glory.
Senior-Level Career
Just months after finishing his college career, Metcalf made a senior world team with wins over NCAA champions Doug Schwab and Teyon Ware along with multiple time All-American Josh Curella and Jared Frayer. He made a statement at a very deep weight, and that statement was an indication of how good he would be for a very long time.
While Metcalf didn't make World or Olympic teams in 2011 or 2012, he was in the finals of both of those trials. That set up a remarkable 2013 freestyle season. In 2013, Metcalf made the finals of the legendary Ivan Yargin Grand Prix and helped the US to a third-place finish at the World Cup. In 2014, Metcalf made his second straight World Team and his third team overall. One of his most impressive wins that year came at Beat the Streets over eventual World champ Magomed Kurbanaliev of Russia.
In 2015, Metcalf had another banner year, making his fourth World team and once again reaching the Yarygin finals. He also helped Team USA reach a second-place finish at the World Cup. While Metcalf was not able to win the US Olympic Trials in 2016, his sustained success and incredible hit list establish him as the standard-bearer for the US for the 66kg/65kg weight for the last decade.