Brandon Bradley enters his eighth season as the head wrestling coach at Nebraska Wesleyan during the 2023-2024 school year. He was hired as the first NWU wrestling coach since 1982 after NWU announced it would re-establish wrestling in July 2015. Bradley spent the 2015-16 season recruiting and setting the program's foundation before student-athletes started to compete in the 2016-17 season.
The 2022–23 season saw unbelievable highs and lows. Overall, the Prairie Wolves had a 1–12 record during the year. The Prairie Wolves had two place at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional. Additionally, Zeth Gerkensmeyer and Tyler Laudick earned NWCA Scholar All-American honors during the season.
In the 2021-22 season, Bradley guided the Prairie Wolves to a 4-9 dual record. The Prairie Wolves had two place at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional. Additionally, Collin Quandt earned NWCA Scholar All-American honors during the season.
Bradley continued to take Nebraska Wesleyan to new heights during the 2020-21 season as he coached Eron Haynes to his second consecutive All-American honor and Van Schmidt became the program's first Academic All-American. The season was limited to eight conference-only duals due to the COVID-19 global health pandemic.
The previous season, Bradley guided the Prairie Wolves to their highest dual victory total since the program was brought back. NWU went 5-8 in dual competition, including a 2-6 mark in the toughest league in NCAA III wrestling, the American Rivers Conference. The Prairie Wolves were 13
th at the NCAA Lower Midwest Regional and had a record three wrestlers make their way onto the podium.
The 2018-19 season was a historic season for the NWU wrestling program as Bradley coached Eron Haynes to an All-American honor at the NCAA III Wrestling Championships, the first All-American in program history. Bradley led the Prairie Wolves to a 4-8 overall dual record, going 2-6 in A-R-C duals to place in a tie for 6
th in the league standings.
The summer prior to the start of the 2017 season, Bradley helped oversee the design and completion of a new wrestling practice facility on NWU's campus. The team officially moved into the new facility in November 2017. In year two of wrestling at NWU, Bradley continued to advance the Prairie Wolves program forward leading the team to a 2-9 dual record. NWU finished 1-7 in conference duals, earning their first Iowa Conference dual victory on Jan. 10 against Buena Vista to finish 8
th in the nationally-recognized IIAC.
In the first year of varsity competition during the 2016-17 season, Bradley brought in a group of 25 wrestlers to participate in the squad’s initial season wrestling in the nationally-prominent Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC.) Bradley guided the Prairie Wolves to a 1-9 overall dual record in the inaugural season. NWU recorded their first dual victory on December 7 versus Northeastern Junior College in Snyder Arena. NWU made their return to the wrestling mat with a special event on November 5 at home with a pair of duals against Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Dubuque.
Bradley came to NWU from Ferrum College, a NCAA Division III institution in Virginia, where he served as the Head Assistant Wrestling Coach for two seasons. He assisted in starting Ferrum College’s brand new DIII wrestling program. While at Ferrum, he coached one national qualifier, in two years had six wrestlers place in top six of the region and personally planned and organized the college’s first open wrestling tournament.
Prior to coaching at Ferrum, Bradley was an assistant coach at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 2010-13. During his tenure, UWW placed third at the 2013 NCAA III Tournament qualifying wrestlers for nationals in eight of 10 weight classes, with six wrestlers earning All-America honors. The Warhawks also won the DIII Midwest Regional as well as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the second straight year.
Bradley wrestled four years at University of North Carolina at Pembroke, an NCAA Division II school, starting all four years for the Braves in the 149-pound weight class. He competed internationally in Bulgaria and Romania in the summer of 2012.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree from UNC-Pembroke in Exercise and Sport Science in 2010 and his Master’s degree in Health, Human Performance and Recreation from Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2012. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Bradley prepped at Henrico High School, where he placed second in the 2004 Virginia AAA State Tournament.
Coach Bradley Dual Record at NWU
| Year |
Overall Record |
Conference (Finish) |
# All-Americans |
| 2016-17 |
1-9 |
0-8 (9th) |
- |
| 2017-18 |
2-9 |
1-7 (8th) |
- |
| 2018-19 |
4-8 |
2-6 (T-6th) |
1 |
| 2019-20 |
5-8 |
2-6 (7th) |
- |
| 2020-21* |
0-8 |
0-8 (9th) |
2 (NWCA, NWCA Academic All-American) |
| 2021-22 |
4-9 |
0-8 (9th) |
1 (NWCA, NWCA Academic All-American) |
| Career |
12-42 |
5-35 |
4 (2 All-Americans, 2 Academic All-American) |
*Season Limited To Eight Conference-Only Matches Due to the COVID-19 Global Health Pandemic*
