Iowa coach Tom Brands was sitting on the Hawkeye bench, watching as Ryan Morningstar took control of his 157-pound match against Nebraska's Chris Oliver.

The Hawkeyes already had bolted to a commanding 12-0 lead against Nebraska in the finals of the National Duals and were about to win their fifth straight match.

Morningstar led by a handful of points and had Oliver trapped in the down position. That's when a voice called out to Brands from the Hawkeye bench.

It was Hawkeye 149-pounder Brent Metcalf.

"It looked like Morningstar was just going to ride him out," Brands said. "Then Metcalf yelled down at me to have Morningstar cut him and go for the major decision."

A few seconds later, Metcalf took matters into his own hands.

"Metcalf started yelling at Morningstar to cut the Nebraska kid," Brands said. "He wanted the major decision, he wanted him to go for the jugular."

Brent Metcalf is a sophomore with just over a semester of varsity experience at the collegiate level, but it's already very apparent that this kid is something special. Some wrestling observers were calling Metcalf the best college wrestler in the building in any weight class during the National Duals.

Metcalf is ranked No. 1 nationally for the nation's top-ranked team.

Want proof of just how special Metcalf is? Just consider his last match in Sunday's home dual against Penn State.

Metcalf fell behind 6-1 against 2007 Junior World freestyle champion Bubba Jenkins after being taken down twice and caught on his back for a two-point near fall. Metcalf then went on an offensive rampage, scoring a whopping 16 points in the second period en route to pinning Jenkins in the third period.

Metcalf trailed 8-5 after the first period, led 21-12 after the second period and was up 23-13 before recording a fall just 33 seconds into the third period.

"I'm not happy with that match, even though I broke him and pinned him," Metcalf said. "I made some mistakes and got off to a bad start. I have to continue to force my style, but I have to do it smart. I just kept attacking and I think he started getting tired halfway through the first period. I could see it in his eyes."

In the second period against Jenkins, Metcalf scored an escape, five takedowns, a three-point near fall and a two-point near fall in an unthinkable span of just 95 seconds.

"The longer the match with Metcalf, the better," Brands said. "Guys can take all the injury time they want against him. It doesn't matter. Metcalf is going to just keep coming. You definitely can't hide when he's on the mat."

Metcalf's in-your-face, pressuring style is reminiscent of the style that twins Tom and Terry Brands wrestled during their days at Iowa. The Brands twins combined for five NCAA titles during their Hawkeye careers. Tom went on to become Olympic and World champion while Terry won two World titles and an Olympic bronze medal.

Tom Brands first watched Metcalf wrestle at the Junior National Duals in Oklahoma, when Metcalf was in high school.

"He just ate people up," Brands said. "He wrestled with the same type of energy he does now. That's the kind of kid I want to recruit."

Brands convinced Metcalf, one of the nation's best prospects, to join him at Virginia Tech. Metcalf, from Davison, Mich., was an undefeated four-time Michigan state champion who won a record-tying six Junior Nationals titles.

Metcalf came out of the powerful Davison High School program that also produced 2007 NCAA champion Paul Donahoe of Nebraska and freshman standout Jon Reader of Iowa State.

"The Brands twins preach the philosophy of attacking and super aggressive wrestling - that's the same approach my high school coach had," Metcalf said. "They want to put pressure on their opponents and they want to dominate. When Coach Brands was recruiting me, just the way he talked to me really got me motivated. He's so intense and so passionate about the sport, how can you not want to wrestle for somebody like that?"

Metcalf was part of a star-studded recruiting class at Virginia Tech that also included Iowa high school standouts Joey Slaton, Dan LeClere and Jay Borschel.

All four wrestlers redshirted under Brands at Virginia Tech during the 2005-06 season. Shortly after that season, Brands left Virginia Tech to take over the Iowa program. Metcalf, Slaton, LeClere and Borschel followed Brands to Iowa City. None of the four were able to compete last season because Virginia Tech refused to release them from their scholarship.

"It wasn't easy sitting out, but I've moved on," Metcalf said. "I wasn't the only one missing out and the support of the other guys who were sitting out definitely helped me. It was a rough year, but we tried to make the best of the situation."

Even though he lost a year of eligibility and couldn't wrestle for Iowa last season, Metcalf took full advantage of every opportunity he had to wrestle.

He was unbeaten in open college tournaments while wrestling unattached. He also wrestled extensively at the international level and enjoyed his share of his success competing in freestyle.

He won a Senior-level freestyle tournament in Canada. He beat a number of established wrestlers in freestyle, including 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kendall Cross.

"Knowing I could compete against the best guys in the country and the World, that was important for me," Metcalf said. "It was definitely a confidence-booster."

Now eligible for the first time as sophomores, all four of Brands' prize recruits are flourishing for the Hawkeyes. Metcalf, Slaton (No. 4 at 133 pounds), LeClere (No. 9 at 141) and Borschel (No. 2 at 174) are each highly ranked nationally. The four wrestlers have posted a combined record of 67-9 in their first varsity seasons.

They helped lead Iowa to the team title at the Midlands Championships before winning the National Duals. In between, they suffered their only loss to Oklahoma State before a crowd of 14,000-plus fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

"Our team is doing an even better job than I expected," Metcalf said. "The loss to Oklahoma State was an eye-opener for us, but we got right back on track after that. The guys on this team love to compete. It's been a lot of fun."

Metcalf is 18-1 this season. His only loss came earlier in the season when he was caught in a spladle and pinned in the first period by North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell. Metcalf has won 15 straight matches since that setback.

"It was aggravating to lose that match," Metcalf said. "It was one of those things where I put myself in a position where I didn't need to be. Sometimes I get a little reckless where I try to force my offense. I was forcing something that wasn't there and he hit me with his move and it was something he was looking for. I need to wrestle smart, especially against somebody who is dangerous like that."

Brands said there is "nothing magical" about what Metcalf is doing.

"You just love his approach - he's always attacking," Brands said. "He wrestles hard, he wrestles really hard. He's very consistent day in and day out with how hard he works. Nothing amazes me with him because he's very coachable and he takes direction and goes with it. He's very driven internally. He's never satisfied and always looking to improve."

Known for his vast arsenal on offense and for being in peak condition, Metcalf also is difficult to score on because he is rarely out of position.

"He's always been good defensively," Brands said. "He's a very good scrambler."

Even though he is just a sophomore, Metcalf has emerged as one of Iowa's leaders.

"He's leading the charge, but he's got a great supporting cast," Brands said. "He's had an incredible impact on his teammates. He raises the bar for this team with his high energy and high standards."

That energy has generated an impact in Iowa City.

"There's a huge buzz on our campus right now," Metcalf said. "People are loving what's going on with the wrestling program - our fans have been tremendous. The Iowa fans are intelligent and know wrestling. It's exciting to have people who care so much following the team."

Before his win over Jenkins, Metcalf rattled off wins over a string of top-ranked opponents.

He downed NCAA runner-up Josh Churella of Michigan 4-2, beat No. 6 Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska 6-2 and defeated All-American Lance Palmer of Ohio State 5-3.

Next up is this weekend's match with NCAA runner-up Ryan Lang of Northwestern before the much-anticipated showdown with 2006 NCAA champion Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota on Feb. 1 in Minneapolis.

Metcalf and Schlatter split a pair of matches in high school. They last met nearly three years ago at the Senior National High School Championships with Schlatter winning 4-3 in the finals.

"That match is something I've been thinking about a lot," Metcalf said of their upcoming bout. "I've been thinking about it since he beat me a few years back. For sure, I'll be ready to go."

Once the college season ends, Metcalf plans to shift his focus toward making a run at qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Metcalf made the 2006 U.S. Junior World Team.

"I will jump right back into freestyle and I will compete at (April's) U.S. Open," he said. "I am serious about making the Olympic Team this year. I have a better feel for what I need to do now after last year. I'm definitely looking to getting into the Olympic Trials and winning it."

For now, Metcalf is hoping to lead Iowa to its first NCAA tournament title since 2000. The Hawkeyes also feature a returning national champion in Mark Perry (165) and a returning All-American in Charlie Falck (125).

The Hawkeyes won 15 NCAA team titles under legendary coach Dan Gable in 21 seasons before Gable retired in 1997. Iowa added three more titles under Jim Zalesky from 1998 to 2000. But the Hawkeyes haven't won since as Oklahoma State (four titles) and Minnesota (three titles) have been the nation's dominant teams.

"We want to put this program back on top and we just need to continue to build every week," Metcalf said. "We cannot relax, we cannot be satisfied, we cannot settle. If we keep working hard, we think we can have what we want in March."

Metcalf said the National Duals match with Nebraska exemplified what Brands has been preaching.

"Coach Brands talks all the time about wrestling a dominating style," Metcalf said. "We want an approach and a mentality that is just relentless."

That's why Brands heard Metcalf calling for Morningstar to keep working for a major decision in the dual against the Huskers.

"I could tell the Nebraska guy was ready to be wrapped up and sealed," Metcalf said. "I just wanted (Morningstar) to get out of his comfort zone and keep attacking. We need to keep the pressure on and break our opponent. We want to dominate."