I sat down with Mizzou great and now assistant coach Dom Bradley to talk about Mizzou Wrestling, his professional wrestling career and the NCAA Championships in KC.
With the recent news of Dom Bradley’s retirement, it seemed like a good idea to re-release my interview with him.
We’re so lucky you’re a Tiger
Congratulations on a phenomenal wrestling career, @DomBradley! #MIZ #TigerStyle pic.twitter.com/BnCA8Ar7IR
— Mizzou Wrestling (@MizzouWrestling) April 26, 2024
Bradley had incredibly accomplished amateur and professional careers as a two-time All-American for the Tigers, three-time Pan-American champion and four-time U.S. Open champion. He recently finished third at 125kg in the Olympic Trials, including a victory over defending national champion Greg Kerkvliet.
Not only one of the greatest Mizzou wrestlers of all time, he is already off to a strong start in his coaching career and will surely become a D-I head coach at some point down the road. Finally, he’s simply a great person, and we at Rock M wish him all the best as he fully enters the next phase of his wrestling life.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity, and the parts that referred to specific aspects of the past season have been removed.
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This is a question I’ve asked in each interview, and you have the most experience in the Big 12 of anyone I’ve asked this to: what is your favorite place to travel to in the Big 12?
DB: I love going to Iowa State or Oklahoma State, those are historic programs. And obviously, we just got our butts kicked at Iowa State. I actually never got to wrestle there besides the Big 12 tournament, I never got the wrestle a dual meet. But just being in there, just looking at the history. I was talking to Zach before his matchup with Bastida and I’m like, look at those banners. There’s six Olympic champions that trained at Iowa State, and then you get to go in this arena and compete, things like that. That’s (what) I try to look at. Or when you go to Oklahoma State, it’s legendary. 34 national championships, But it’s fun to compete there. You know, people will say every bad thing to you, and I think that’s awesome. I love being the villain. Who doesn’t like being the villain? Everybody wants to be the hero? No way. So that’s a place where you get to go be the villain, and it’s so much sweeter when you beat them at Oklahoma State.
Like you mentioned, you have extremely strong ties to Mizzou. What does it mean to coach for your alma mater?
DB: Man, it’s everything. I helped build the program. But I just remember when I was getting recruited by coach Smith, he’s like, we have a good team right now with Ben Askren and Matt Pell, but you could be the guy that can help change the program. And I was like, me? Okay. But then it was like, hey, you’re the first big recruit in this recruiting class. You know, my recruiting class ended up being number two (in the country). Didn’t really pan out the way we thought it would, I was the only person to All-American in my recruiting class.
But just the guys that I hosted, I would try to tell them like, ‘Hey, you’re the next guy in the program.’ And that’s what I tried to acknowledge. I can remember when I first came back, (with) Keegan and Rocky and Colton, I was like, I need somebody else to be a U20 world champion. I don’t want to be the only one in program history. I challenged those guys and I’m like, you guys got to make the world team. ‘Okay, we’re trying.’ I’m like, ‘No, seriously.’ And then when they got it, I’m like, you guys need to break the streak. I don’t want to be the only guy, I want you guys to be there. And it means a lot.
Even guys like Keegan who was a U23 world champion, that is awesome, and I just love this this school. I got my degree from here and got my master’s degree here. I’m raising my kids here, I have a house here. So I just love it, and I get to work with Coach Smith. It’s great. You know, if you would have told me back in 2005 I’d be living in Columbia, Missouri, I would have told you you are crazy. I was just a high school sophomore, somehow won a state tournament in the Hearnes Center. And I was like, ‘Yeah!’ Now I get to walk into the Hearnes Center every day. So for me, it’s great. I won a lot of matches here, so it’s great.
You mentioned working with Coach Smith. How is it different knowing him as a player to now working with him as an assistant coach?
DB: Man, make sure you put this in the paper: He’s gotten soft, I want to say that (this was clearly a joke, just for the record). But no, he’s great. He has so much knowledge, and it’s (gotten) better. You know, I’m honestly jealous of these kids because I almost think I was part of the guinea pig situation of Coach Smith. Like, ‘Alright, we’re just gonna do this, this and this.’ And now he’s so much smarter. The days that we train hard, the next day is light, and just things like that. He has a schedule of peaks and valleys. I just remember sometimes I’d be peaking too early or I’d peak too late, and I think he’s gotten it down to like a tee. And it’s awesome for me. I’m still competing. You know, I only have a couple tournaments left in my career, at least that’s what I think.
But it’s just cool to see the same things. I know what kind of practice he’s going to run by the way he starts the warm up. I used to tell the guys when we’re practicing, ‘We’re gonna do this, this, this and this,’ and they’re like, ‘What do you mean ?’ And I’m like, boom, boom, boom (predictions turned out to be true). It’s still the same thing from 2008, but now it’s recycled and it’s better. And he’s just finding different ways to relate to kids. That’s something that Coach Smith is really good at is relating with people, he has great relationships with people. And (it) was really unique to see that because, you know, I’m on the opposite side. But it’s just so cool because now I’m like, ‘Oh, this is what he was talking about in 2010 when I was being a jerk and I wasn’t listening to him.’ And now I understand why this works or why he would yell at us like this or why he’s disappointed. It’s all coming back to me, so it’s awesome.
You’ve wrestled quite successfully after your college career, winning multiple US Open and Pan Am championships. How do you envision the rest of your wrestling career playing out, and what are your goals for that?
DB: Man, just to have so much fun. You have guys like Keegan O’Toole who are amazing, I wasn’t even gonna wrestle this year. I was completely fine with being done and Keegan’s like, ‘Hey, when are we going to Olympic trials?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m not going, I’m done.’ Then, you know, unfortunately, a couple of heavyweights got hurt at the beginning of the summer. It was the beginning of the season (and) Zach’s like ‘Let’s go (to the tournament).’ If you’re wrestling with a junior world silver medalist and an NCAA All-American every day, why the hell would you not wrestle? I’m wrestling with one of the best guys in the country. I can’t thank Zach and Rocky and Keegan enough. Those guys are just like, ‘Hey Coach Dom, when are we going to this tournament, and this and that.’ And I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m gonna be 35 (in) a couple of weeks. Like, I don’t know, my body hurts.’ I have great coaches right now. Coach Maple, he’s the next big thing.
Even today, he put me through a workout. I was like, ‘I’ve never even done anything like this.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I was thinking about this. I’ve had this on my phone for a couple of weeks and I wanted to try it on you,’ and I’m like, ‘Great, this is awesome man.’ Any way I can compete and just get better at wrestling is great. As a coach, you always get involved. For me, I can’t coach everybody. I would love to sit in the corner for everybody, but I can’t, and I guess my way is to just compete and try new things. See what I can see and bring it back, and that’s how I try to coach. And I’m gonna try to wrestle till the wheels fall off. Wheels are real close, I feel sore, tired. Pass on the torch to my kids. Hopefully they want to wrestle. My son wrestled and daughter wrestled at a tournament a couple of weeks ago, so yeah, (we’ll) see what happens.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a coach since coming back to Mizzou full time?
DB: I say this every single interview: Wrestling is so darn hard. You can’t worry about, you know, ‘What if this guy is doing this and this and this.’ You can only control what you can control. And I always tell my guys if I’m coaching, you worked hard enough. You’ve done everything right. Just go have fun. Don’t worry about the outcome. If you worry about the outcome then you start thinking about, ‘Oh man, what if I lose?’ And the number one cliche thing is the sun will come up tomorrow, and I say that to these guys. Yes, it sucks that you lost, but what is it in the meantime?
I want you guys to be better fathers in society. I want you guys to be better people. I want you guys to have college degrees. That’s what I care about. I want Brock Mauller to finish and get his Master’s degree, I care about Zach having his Master’s and he’s going to do successful things. I care about Colton Hawks getting his degree. (It’s) great if they’re All-American. Hell yeah, I’m really happy. But when some of these guys, Jacob Bohlken sending me wedding invites and guys I’ve coached in the past (send) me wedding invites, that stuff’s so cool to me. And that’s what I’ve learned, that wrestling is just a small part of your life. Try to do the best you can but don’t dwell on it because, you know, I’m almost 35 in a couple weeks. This is like, man, I would do anything to go put that damn singlet back on one more time at the Hearnes Center or at the national championship. But yeah, just go have fun, and you only get to wrestle for so long.
How did you get into coaching?
DB: Man, I don’t know. I remember Coach Smith telling me when I was a freshman, he’s like, ‘You’re really good at teaching technique at camp.’ I would run the heavyweight camp sessions or I’d run some sessions and I was a first year freshman or second year in college. I was just like, whatever, you know, and I would coach a little bit. And I just kept coaching and man, I just fell in love with wrestling probably my senior year of college. I Olympic redshirted, I’ve been across the world and just kind of fell in love with the sport because I got a college degree. So I was just like, I want to help kids get better at wrestling. And I’m a youth coach now, I coach a youth club. I just coach, and that’s what I do. I just think it was made for me. Wrestling has given me so much. I want to help people know that you can use wrestling not just to get better at sports but in life, get a degree. I don’t know, I just like coaching, I like wrestling.
Having been with the program for so long, what does Tiger Style mean to you?
DB: It’s a lifestyle, it’s not just wrestling. It’s how I am as a father. You know, if I’m yelling at my kids, obviously I’m not teaching them something right. Or ‘Damn coach, I want to compete.’ I was in grad school last year and like, ‘Man, I want to get a 98% .’ I was in this class with Jarrett Jacques and Allan Hart, and I’m like, ‘What did you guys get on this assignment?’ And that’s what Tiger Style is. ‘I got a 99,’ ‘Well, I got a 99.2.’ I’m like, damn, I’m just here competing. And I’m not competing to the point where it’s unhealthy, but I do compete, and that’s what Tiger Style is. Compete, expect to win. So you always want the best outcome, you’re gonna go compete. And then belief. You gotta believe in yourself, right? This life is so hard, and Tiger Style is kind of what I use.
I think a lot of wrestlers use it but Coach Smith has made it his brand, made it his thing. I can remember when I first entered high school, Mizzou was kind of on the rise. And I was like, ‘Oh, you know, whatever, Tiger Style.’ By my junior year it’s like, ‘Damn, Mizzou is really doing good, they’re getting trophies.’ My senior year, they were third in the country. I was coming in and I was the top recruit in that class and I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, I know what Tiger Style is!’ And then when you’re in it, you’re like, ‘Shit, this is hard.’ Once you get used to it, then it becomes your standard. Most people are here and you’re here on Tiger Style (gestures higher). And then when you get you leave you’re like, ughh, but you still want to be there. And you gotta reach that threshold.
As we wrap things up, is there anything you want to say to Mizzou fans?
DB: Come support one of the best programs on campus, not to say it to be cocky. We have all these conference championships, but we have great people in society. You have people that are lawyers, people that are doctors, all these good, key people, and you wouldn’t even know it. All you got to do is look at their ears. Just realize that this program is special. It’s not just a flash in the pan, it’s a program that’s built on success. It’s built on Tiger Style, and Tiger Style is a lifestyle. And we’re comin’.