Bailey Schafbuch | Sports Co-Editor
Courtney Van Haaften | Sports Co-Editor
Buena Vista University’s (BVU) senior 184-pounder Brian Broll is headed to the NCAA Championships for his fourth straight year. After his performance and placing at the Central Regional Championships this previous weekend, Broll became the program’s first four-time national qualifier since Jestin Hulegaard (2005-2008).
Broll was the only Beaver to qualify, and he is heading into the tournament with an overall record of 16-2. He will be looking to earn All-American honors and be a national champion for the first time in his career.
“It’s nice to see all my hard work and time and commitment pay off. Also, to continue competing in the sport that I love,” Broll said.
Broll’s hard work throughout the years is extremely evident. He was ranked second in the nation throughout the season. There are only three wrestlers at Broll’s weight in the national tournament with no losses at the Division III level. Broll’s first loss against a Division III competitor was at the conference tournament, and his only other loss against a redshirt from Iowa State University. He serves as a great leader for his coaches and teammates.
“Every single year he’s named the hardest worker in the room. He really lays it out all the time and that’s why he made the big jump from high school to college successfully. He’s willing to put in the hard work even on his own. His freshman year people would ask me about the wrestler who dragged a tire across campus and ran sprints by himself. I knew exactly who it was; it was Brian Broll. He’s the kind of guy who goes and challenges himself to do 500 pull-ups today. He’s constantly asking himself what he can do to be better and that’s what it takes to be a national qualifier,” Head Wrestling Coach Sevond Cole said.
Broll brings many things to the table. He’s an overall great student-athlete and has a great mindset to being a successful competitor. He wrestles all year round. In the summers he helps with J. Robinson Wrestling Camps located across the country and gets the opportunity to learn new things from the best wrestlers and coaches in the nation.
“My biggest tool is that I’m persistent and stick with it and continue to work hard,” Broll said.
“Brian Broll is the type of kid that you want to bring into the program every year. He does what he needs to do on the mat and in the classroom. He exudes excellence in every part of his life. Guys like Broll aren’t easy to come by,” Cole said.
Broll could name several people that have motivated him and been his role models throughout his eight years as a competitive wrestler. The ones who stick out the most are Cole and Assistant Wrestling Coach Zach Mizer, past coaches, the strength and conditioning coaches, teammates and practice partners who did everything they could to make him better.
Cole and Broll himself each have high goals set during the last meet of his career.
“I want him to be a national champion; he has the skills to do that. He doesn’t need to settle for anything less than that,” Cole said.
“The national tournament is the accumulation of my eight years of wrestling so far. More than anything else, I just want to be happy with how I wrestle and enjoy it,” Broll said.
Support Broll this weekend, March 15 and 16 at the NCAA Championships held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Photo courtesy of Steven Phelps
