Coaching provides positive changes for Bradley’s wrestling career

Dom Bradley in the semifinals at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Photo by Robbert Wijtman.


Making moves and changing scenery has been the theme of this year for 2009 Junior World Champion Dom Bradley.


Recently, the 125 kg/275.5 lbs athlete made the move from his home state of Missouri to train in Morgantown, W. Va., under his freestyle coach, World champion and Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson, who left the University of Missouri to become head coach at West Virginia.


“The move has made me realize that I can’t take wrestling for granted, or anything else that I took for granted last year. I had the worst tournament of my life at last year’s World Team Trials. Now I’m committed,” said Bradley.


Growing up in Missouri, he had a strong high school career at Blue Springs. Under the coaching of Mike Hagerty, he found himself as a three-time heavyweight Missouri state champion and the number one ranked heavyweight in the nation during his senior year.


“Before I had graduated, I had been to four or five countries. I had been on tours, wrestling these tournaments that were just great. I got my butt kicked every day until I was a junior in high school. I had a great workout coach, had a four-year starting defensive lineman at Missouri and a two-time All American at Harvard beating me every day. I had no choice but to get better,” said Bradley.


His ample experiences in high school brought him to the University of Missouri, where he had the chance to stay close to home and still enjoy success.


“The program at Missouri was great. At a time when I was getting recruited at the number three team in the country, and I finished up the year third, I figured I might as well go, I might as well push myself. It was an hour and a half down the road from where I was from, too,” said Bradley.


Bradley went on to become the Junior World champion in 2009 and continue to compete on the international circuit.


Now, he has shifted his focus to not only his own wrestling career, but to others’ as well. As a volunteer assistant coach as West Virginia, he helps train athletes who are eager and willing to learn.


He believes that the new atmosphere that West Virginia provides is encouraging and full of support. Despite the fact that their program is still growing, he sees greatness in its athletes and their efforts.


“I’m working for a team that really cares. They’re not at the level that we are at yet, but when we’re teaching them it’s making me a better wrestler. I’m teaching the kids stuff that I need to work on. If I need to work on it then they need to work on it,” said Bradley.


Coaching, according to Bradley, has not only given him a chance to give back to the community, but it has also provided him with an opportunity to better himself as a wrestler.


Looking on his current athletic career, his focus is more about what he can do now rather than later.


“I’m thinking about what I have to do, I’m living in the moment. When I step on the mat, the first thing I worry about is my stance, where I’m placing my hands. If I take care of that, the match will take care of itself. It doesn’t matter if it’s Tervel Dlagnev, if it’s Tony Nelson, or Nick Gwiazdowski, whoever it is out there. If I can control what I’m good at, which I’ve been working on the last two months since NYAC, I think I can beat anybody,” said Bradley.


Other than a change in training locations, he is not afraid to change up his routine and style either. His successes against international opponents at multiple tournaments prove that he is open to staying dynamic and being different on the mat.


“My thing is, I’ve been trying to mix it up. I’ve been trying to score off of under hooks, two on ones, open shots; you have to evolve, you can’t stay the same. If I stay the same, I’ll get beat every time,” said Bradley.


Today, at the 2015 Dave Schultz Memorial International, he has advanced to the finals.


He opened the day with a win over Japan’s Yuya Fujita 10-0, and followed that performance with another victory in the quarterfinals over Justin Grant of the NYAC 6-0.


He went on to defeat two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson of Minnesota Storm in the semifinals in a hard fought bout with an end score of 3-2.


“That was a great match against Tony Nelson. He won nationals, I didn’t. It felt great to get a win against him. It’s my second time beating him. It’s always great to beat a guy that’s a two-time national champion. He’s tough, he’s real strong,” said Bradley.


In the finals match at 125 kg, Bradley will face off 19-year-old Pavel Krivtsov of Russia.


To Bradley, who was the 2012 Dave Schultz Memorial champion, just competing at this tournament is important.


“When I won in 2012, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I just showed up and said ‘hey, I want to wrestle,’ and I won. When you really understand the reason behind this tournament, with the Dave Schultz story, you understand why this tournament is so important,” said Bradley.


Bradley has his own reasons for competing here. Every athlete has their own motivations for why they compete in certain places, but for Bradley this is all for one man-his father.


“Wrestling means everything to me. It gave me an education, and I’ve gained life-long friends from the sport, as well as job opportunities. But honestly, I wrestle for my dad. I wrestle for myself, but I like to represent my dad. This is something we started together, and I want to finish on top,” said Bradley.