$14.1 Million Settlement After College Wrestler Died of Heatstroke During Punishment Practice
The University of the Cumberlands paid $14.1 million to the family of Grant Brace, a 20-year-old wrestler who died of exertional heatstroke in August 2020 after coaches refused him water during a grueling punishment practice and failed to summon medical help.
What happened
Grant Brace was 20 years old when he reported to the University of the Cumberlands for his wrestling team's first practice of the 2020 season. What followed was a punishment drill: repeated sprints up a steep hill in the August heat. When Brace sat down, exhausted, a coach threatened to cut him from the roster. He kept going.
Brace had narcolepsy and ADHD and took Adderall, a stimulant that increases the body's demand for water. He told coaches he was done and could not continue. He asked for water. Coaches denied the request and did not call for medical assistance. He found an outdoor fountain that did not work and could not get inside a building. Roughly 45 minutes later, coaches found him dead in the grass.
The Brace family retained Brian Vines of Minner Vines Injury Lawyers, PLLC. The lawsuit alleged that the university and its coaching staff created a dangerous environment, ignored clear warning signs of heat illness, and denied Brace the basic access to water and emergency care that would have kept him alive. Vines told Spectrum News 1 the death was '100% preventable' and that Brace 'exhibited all the signs' of exertional heatstroke before he collapsed.
In March 2023, the University of the Cumberlands agreed to a $14.1 million settlement. As part of the resolution, the university committed to implementing the B.R.A.C.E. protocol for all student athletes, coaches, and trainers, a training program covering early recognition and aggressive cooling of heat illness. Both wrestling coaches who were present at the practice are no longer employed at the university.
Vines said the settlement 'really recognizes the wrongdoing both of the university and the coaches.' The $14.1 million figure was confirmed by ESPN, Fox News, and Spectrum News 1.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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