Iowa All-American wrestler Nelson Brands was suspended by the NCAA last season for sports betting, and the Iowa City native has now been granted an additional year of eligibility.

Iowa wrestler Nelson Brands applied for a medical hardship waiver after a torn UCL shortened his 2021-22 season

Brands announced Tuesday night on social media that he will be back for the 2024-25 season. The 5-foot-9 redshirt senior joked on X that Kenny Rogers’ hit “The Gambler” should accompany his return to the mat.

Brands, who is the nephew of Iowa coach Tom Brands and son of Hawkeyes associate head coach Terry Brands, applied for a medical hardship waiver after a torn ulnar collateral ligament shortened his 2021-22 season.

Nelson earned All-America honors during the 2022-23 season and finished fifth in the NCAA championship at 174 pounds. He scored 19 team dual points as well.

Nelson is among the group of Iowa and Iowa State athletes who faced penalties resulting from the state’s investigation into sports wagering in the spring of 2023.

Hey Siri, play The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.

I’m stoked to represent the black and gold for one last season! pic.twitter.com/7KRpDpFlHY

— Nelson “The Gambler” Brands (@nelson_brands) May 21, 2024

Brands never faced criminal charges and was at least 21 years old when he made the wagers. However, he was still suspended by the NCAA for betting on Iowa’s football team.

The NCAA in December denied Brands’ appeal, and Brands then announced on social media that his college career was over. Three other Hawkeyes wrestlers also faced NCAA suspensions amid the sports wagering probe. Brands was most interested in the approval of his hardship waiver.

“I’m working towards that to maybe cushion the blow,” Brands told ESPN in April. “It just sucks for the seniors that don’t have the opportunity I have to get another year. Their careers are done.”

Brands used DraftKings Sportsbook in the fall of 2022 to make wagers on Hawkeyes’ football team

Nelson Brands said he used DraftKings in the fall of 2022 to make wagers after seeing an advertisement on social media offering $200 in free bets. Though, he soon got “bored” and stopped placing bets when wrestling season began.

Brands said his wagers on Iowa football, which totaled $55, to go over the points total in games led to his season-long suspension. While he did not wager on any other Iowa sport, he still made bets on the school’s football team.

“I lost all of it because I was betting on the over for Iowa because I’m a fan and I want Iowa to do well,” he said. “It was one of those situations where I was going against the norm because I’m a fan and I wanted them to win.”

Brands is among the 26 current and former athletes in Iowa who last month filed a federal lawsuit against the state, alleging investigators with the Division of Criminal Investigations violated their constitutional rights by using geolocation software to track wagering activity on their cellphones.

“I’m not a bad person because I gambled,” Brands said. “I’m still a guy who can have morals. People understanding that what I did was not illegal, it wasn’t against the law. I was just a kid being a kid, making a mistake.”

In the 2022-23 season, Brands ranked as high as No. 11 nationally and went 6-4 in duals. He also went 3-3 in Big Ten duals and finished 9-8 against ranked opponents.