The Beginnings:

Coach Tomes was introduced to the sport of Wrestling in 1977 at the age of 5, when his father enrolled him in a fledgeling youth program in Mosinee, WI.  The sport did not come naturally to him when he started.  He didn't compete in the early years, instead used wrestling to try to fend off his younger and much more aggressive brother.  At one point, participation by his brother had  After spending 3 years in the Evergreen Seedling Youth Wrestling Club, the family moved to Sturgeon Bay.   

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He would participate in three years of wrestling in middle school, rarely winning a match and often getting wildly frustrated with the result, no matter how consistent it was.  Despite a lack of success, it was clear that at least internally, he believed he could be successful.  There just wasn't much evidence to support that it was possible.

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The Competitor:

It wasn't until high school that Tomes started to take competing seriously.  His family moved from Sturgeon Bay to Waupaca immediately after wrestling ended in 8th grade.   After spending all three seasons of middle school wrestling on the downtrodden Sturgeon Bay program, he'd be in a different situation as a Comet.  There, the team was successful, led by Coach Chuck Peters.  The improved coaching and organization was crucial to no longer getting his ass kicked.  Tomes went 8-8 as an 85 lb freshman in the 98 lb weight class.  He'd letter as a sophomore, one of only 2 non-seniors on a Conference Championship team that also won the WIAA Regional.  Thing were about to change, though.  Tomes' family moved back to Sturgeon Bay, where the program was in rough shape.  He would be a 2 year starter, with a record of 41-15, but struggled to meet expectations and potential, and ultimately never made it out of his regional. 

 

Unhappy with how my senior year had ended, Tomes enrolled at UW-River Falls, a former state wrestling powerhouse that had fallen on hard times.  A poor student in high school who never had above a 2.0 gpa despite a 25 on his ACT, Tomes was not ready for the rigors of college and dropped out after a semester at UWRF.  He was 3-5 with a trio of pins, including a memorable one of the defending WIAC Champion, but never cracked the lineup and left after the Christmas Break.  He'd return home and volunteer as a coach at the struggling SBHS program, where his brother was now a talented, but frustrated, sophomore.   

 

Tomes began his prolific coaching career as a voluntary assistant to Stan Hein, then the team's Head Coach.  After volunteering for 2 years, Tomes was formally hired at age 20 as the team's Assistant Coach.  One week into the 1992-93 season, Hein tore his ACL and required immediate surgery.  Tomes led the team as the Interim Head Coach that year, and the impact was immediate.  Sturgeon Bay had their best season in 30 years, all while lettering 11 freshmen.  They qualified three wrestlers to the WIAA State Tournament, with two bringing home medals.  Brian Tomes (sr) and Chad Hoiska (jr) both got to the semi-finals and each placed 4th.  Josh Swanson (fr) had become the first freshman in the history of the program to make it to state. 

 

For a program that dated back to the 1930's, that season marked arguably its most successful ever.  It had been 30 years since the team qualified more than one to the state meet, and had only 4 state place winners in its entire history.  It was done with a 20 year old interim head coach, starting eleven 9th graders and a rag-tag group of newbies, and did it on an immediate upgrade in schedule difficulty.   Leading his younger brother to a state spot and medal was a major highlight, and occurred in epic fashion.  Facing the WIAA State Runner Up from 1992 in the Sectional Finals, Brian Tomes used a last second takedown to secure the spot in what by many counts was one of the hardest individual sectional brackets in State History, featuring a defending champion, runner up, 4th place finisher, state qualifier, and two upstarts that would go on to win state titles in high school.  That match is linked here:  Brian Tomes 1993 Video

 

After 2.5 seasons assisting in Sturgeon Bay, Tomes finally had an inkling of what he wanted to do with his life.  Early that season, he began applying to get into colleges.  Teams were not quick to make offers to the now 21 year old with low grades and nary a major accomplishment on the mats.  That said, Tomes was determined to find a place on a roster.  When Carroll University began recruiting his younger brother, he had his chance.  When his brother signed with the NCAA DIII program, they got the older one as well.  Without any other options in hand, Tomes joined his brother and became an instant starter for the program.  Four years later, he had compiled 60 wins against 49 defeats, with 30 pins; putting him in the top 5 for both wins and pins in a career for the Pioneers.  

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Carroll had won a 3 WI State Private School titles and had its highest ever finish in the Midwest Conference while Tomes was there, but the program was in bad shape at the end of his senior year.  Tomes interviewed for the Head Coaching position after it was announced that the Head Coach had been released.  Tomes did the recruiting and had lined up a stellar incoming class of athletes, but was not selected for the job.  Carroll had intentions to drop the program, but had decided to hire Mike Scott, a former DI college wrestler.  The results were disastrous.  After a pair of scandal-riddled years, the team was down to three athletes just two years after Tomes graduated.  The program was dropped after the 1999 season.  

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In the meantime, Tomes interviewed for three other Head Coaching positions;  Sussex Hamilton, Nicolet and Shorewood; all struggling programs with low numbers and little team success.  He was rejected by all three.  Sussex hired a longtime assistant.   Nicolet offered the assistant's job, and was incensed when he passed on it.  Shorewood said he was too ambitious, and they did not believe the level of success he spoke of was possible at their school.  

 

Coaching and Teaching

 Tomes was hired by Milwaukee Public Schools as a teacher the day that wrestling started that year, and used him as a substitute for a month while placement was determined.  Living on the Northwest side of town, he went to Marshall High, closest to his house, and asked if he could volunteer for the year.  He  spent one year as an assistant coach at Marshall High School in Milwaukee.   There, he saw firsthand how poorly many of the Milwaukee City teams were coached and managed.  With a solid core of athletes returning, Tomes made a push to get the open Head Coaching position.  It was not to be.  Marshall kept the team's paid assistant coach for the next year, leaving Tomes without a team. 

 

In the interim, he was placed at Custer High School; one of the nation's most troubled schools. Custer did not have a wrestling team,  or many other teams for that matter.  A massive building with 1,900 students assigned to it, attendance was well below 50% and most of the school's teams had been dropped years earlier.  Frustrated with the impossibility to land an elusive Head Coaching job, Tomes made the decision to start a program from scratch in one of the most challenging environments in the nation.   

 

 That decision would prove to be pivotal, as he set out to do the impossible, and ultimately made it happen.  The result was a prolific 16 years spent as a Head Coach at four high schools and his alma mater, as well as some of the country's top MMA gyms.  From crying after every loss as a middle schooler, to under-achieving in high school, to a litany of rejection by schools he was hoping to help, to winning state championships and coaching Main Card UFC fights, the path of the self-described rural miscreant became an urban legend.   

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Read about each one of the stops by clicking the image to the right for a full summary of each stop along the way!