For a team that is already packed with experience and talent, the biggest name returning to Missouri wrestling for the 2012-13 season is undoubtedly senior heavyweight Dom Bradley.
After placing third at the NCAA championships and earning All-American honors in his junior year, Bradley was redshirted last season in order to qualify for the Olympic wrestling team. He spent the year on an intense training regiment and competition in international tournaments. But his dreams were cut short when he failed to defeat his opponent in a best-of-three series at the Olympic qualifying tournament last April.
But Bradley, now in his sixth year at MU, immediately refocused his goals back to competing for Missouri after the loss.
His goal: two words.
“National champ,” Bradley said. “I’ve been here since I was a senior in high school. My goal and part of reason why I took the redshirt was to get some more experience and be a part of a national championship team.”
Coach Brian Smith, who helped train Bradley for the Olympics, said that Bradley’s tunnel vision for a championship will aid the rest of the team, which enters its first season as members of the Mid-American Conference and ranks No. 7 nationally.
“The day Dom didn’t make the Olympic team he said he now had to work on winning a national title,” Smith said. “Having that mentality in the room will make a big difference on the younger kids.”
Even though he didn’t qualify for the Olympics, Bradley was still invited by the USA team to travel to London for the 2012 Olympic games. During the competition, he was the training partner to USA heavyweight and gold medalist, Jake Varner. Bradley believes the experience he gained over the last year will not only help himself but the rest of the Tigers.
“It’s going to help me a lot,” Bradley said. “I got to watch the Olympic finals and that’s a once in a lifetime experience many people can’t say they’ve ever had. I just think my experience of being at the biggest stages, wrestling people from other countries and seeing different types of wrestling all added to my experience that I now can bring back to this team.”
Bradley will be rejoining a Missouri roster that already has plenty of experience with 10 NCAA qualifiers returning from last season. But Bradley’s teammates are happy to see him back.
“He’s one of the top kids in the country, has a great chance of winning the title this year and I think it’ll help this team a lot,” junior 125-pounder Alan Waters said.
During Bradley’s absence last season, sophomore Devin Mellon stepped in at heavyweight and successfully qualified for the NCAA tournament. However, Smith said that Bradley is still the team’s starting heavyweight.
“It’s competitive between the two, but Dom is the man right now,” Smith said. “Devin will have the opportunity to train with him for another year and we’ll get him his matches.”
Because he trained with the Tigers while qualifying for the Olympics, Bradley said the transition back to the roster was seamless. But reintegrating into school was another story.
“The hardest part of me coming back has been getting back into school,” Bradley said. “Last year I didn’t take any classes and now I’ve got 15 credit hours left to finish. It’s hard getting back into school after a year off.”
