NEW YORK, August 14, 2013 – Between them all they have four Olympic gold medals and nine NCAA championships and that is just their accomplishments on the mat.  This week the Committee for the Preservation Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) in conjunction with USA Wrestling and FILA welcomes wrestling legends Cael Sanderson, John Smith and Tom Brands for the latest Google+ Hangout On Air this Thursday at 5pm ET.  The three Olympic champions and current NCAA Division I wrestling coaches will discuss their illustrious careers, the importance of keeping Olympic wrestling and their efforts to help grow the sport on the collegiate level. Fans can tweet questions using the #LegendsHangout hashtag.

Sanderson, Smith and Brands coach three of the nation’s top collegiate wrestling programs in Penn State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Iowa.  Between them all they have won 11 total NCAA team titles including 10 of the last 11.  Sanderson has coached Penn State to three consecutive NCAA team titles in the past three years (2011-2013), Smith has led the Oklahoma State Cowboys to five team championships of their own (’94, 2003-2006) and Brands led Iowa to three consecutive NCAA titles from 2008-2010.  

Sanderson is one of the top collegiate wrestlers of all time.  During his four years at Iowa State University from 1999-2002 he won four consecutive NCAA individual titles and went 159-0 on his collegiate career before bringing home a gold medal at 84kg at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games.

Smith is a two-time Olympic champion from the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games and a four-time world champion in the 62kg weight class. He had an impressive collegiate career of his own going 154-7-2 at Oklahoma State, winning two NCAA individual titles in 1987 and 1988. 

Brands like Sanderson and Smith is an Olympic champion winning the gold medal in the 62kg weight class at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.  Before returning to coach his alma mater, Brands won three NCAA titles as a member of the Hawkeyes from 1990-1992 compiling a 158-7-2 collegiate record.

Fans can RSVP to the event on the Keep Olympic Wrestling Google+ Page and watch it live on the Keep Olympic Wrestling YouTube Channel and TheMat.com.  Sanderson, Smith and Brands are the latest of several Olympic wrestlers and leaders who will participate in weekly Google+ Hangouts On Air leading up to the International Olympic Committee’s final vote in September. The final hangout scheduled for next Thursday, August 29 will feature FILA president Nenad Lalovic.  

ABOUT CPOW
The Committee for the Preservation of Olympic Wrestling (CPOW) was developed by USA Wrestling, whose mission is to insure that wrestling remains as a core sport of the Olympic Games. CPOW features many highly-respected leaders within the American wrestling, chaired by Bill Scherr of Glenview, Ill., a World champion and Olympic medalist in freestyle wrestling and a leader in the Olympic family.

The official website is KeepOlympicWrestling.com. You can find the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/officialkeepwrestlingintheolympics. The official Twitter location is @wrestlingvision.

FILA, the international governing body for wrestling can be found at its official website at http://www.fila-official.com/ and they are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fila.official and on Twitter @FILA_Official.