University Settles With Family of Wrestler

The University of the Cumberlands has settled with the family of a member of the men’s wrestling team who died of heatstroke in 2020 following an on-campus workout, the institution announced Wednesday. The university will pay over $14 million to the family of the student, Grant Brace, in addition to promising to complete heat-illness training and promote the Brace family’s work raising awareness of heat-related injuries.

“Grant was a talented, well liked young man entering his junior year with a bright future ahead of him,” Chancellor Jerry Jackson said in a statement. “Our University community continues to mourn his untimely loss. We sincerely hope that resolving this matter early in the legal process will offer the Brace family a measure of peace and healing.”

According to the statement, the university believes it could have defended itself in the lawsuit, but it chose to settle to avoid a lengthy legal battle and to respect the Brace family’s loss.