Brandon John Dean '25 Recruiting Profile

Hello Coach, 

In just the last year, I've grown tremendously and learned the following very valuable lessons. 

1. If your environment isn't to your liking, then change it. 

2. The challenges you face in life will be obstacles that stop your progress if you let them. More importantly, they can present incentives and opportunities for growth.

3.  Don't be afraid to make your own path and leave a trail for others to follow.

4.  I have discovered that the hard work I put into wrestling continually pays dividends.

If I end up wrestling for your program, I want you to understand who I am, not just as a wrestler and not just as a student. I want you to know me as an individual who values honor, integrity, humility and respect. My relationship with my coach is the most important quality that I am seeking in a college wrestling program.

I accomplished quite a bit during my sophomore wrestling season. I was a County Champion, District Champ, and Region Champ where I was named Outstanding Wrestler for pinning a Delbarton Senior in the Finals who was a Princeton commit. I went on to the State Tournament where I placed 6^th in the State of New Jersey at 144 pounds and was the youngest underclassman and highest placing public-school wrestler in the weight class. I attribute my success to hard, regular training and my desire to become a more complete wrestler.

During the following summer, I raised my efforts by training with multiple Fargo Champions and World Team members. I placed in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman styles as a cadet at Fargo and was a Finalist in the USA Wrestling HS Recruiting Showcase. These successes left me excited for the upcoming high school season, my junior year.

Although my junior season was cut short, I was undefeated, and I had not given-up a single takedown. I was on track to break 100 wins as a junior. My goals of 150 career wins and 100 pins were in sight. I was confident and had trouble finding teammates at any weight who could challenge me in the wrestling room. That was becoming a double-edged sword. My development as a wrestler was converging with my coach’s unwillingness to offer me an opportunity to continue to develop at a level that I needed to reach my goals.

He understood that I was a team player, and I conveyed my excitement to share my abilities and experiences to help the other wrestlers develop as I was developing. I sought permission to work with the wrestlers at Blair Academy twice a week so that I could continue to refine my skills. I would work with the team the other four days. Despite this type of arrangement being common with other high caliber wrestlers, my coach would not provide his permission.

Rather than being willing to compromise in a situation that warranted it, my coach dug his feet in and threatened me with punishments for missing practice. He threatened to bench me if I missed a single practice and was skeptical when I missed an event due to sickness. I felt that the relationship was becoming antagonistic and did not understand his position. We made overtures to my coach and tried to make the situation work.

Throughout this challenging period, I continued to be the hardest worker in the wrestling room and maintained my levels of success in the classroom. I achieved a 5.4 GPA taking only honors courses, was ranked 7^th in my class and was enrolled in the challenging IB program. I was doing all I could do to maintain my excellence in the wrestling room and the classroom.

As this continued, I began to feel stuck and frustrated, unable to get the workouts that I needed to improve and prepare to reach my goal of winning a State Championship. At this point the bigger wrestlers in the room were literally avoiding me in practice because they could not compete with me. One day I wrestled live with my coach during practice, putting him to his back with an assassin in front of everyone else in the room, including the AD.

I was hopeful that this would convince the coach that I needed more than his room could give, but nothing changed. I’m sharing this so you can understand the adversity that I faced and to explain why I left New Jersey without being able to attain the goals that I left on the table. The environment had become so toxic that I had thoughts about leaving the sport completely. I remember telling my father on the way home from practice that I didn’t want to wrestle anymore. I knew that I would never reach my full potential if I remained in that program.

After that, within a few days, my father arranged to send me to Colorado. My family sold our home and moved to Colorado inside of 30 days so we could all be together and that me and my siblings could continue to pursue our dreams in wrestling.

My coaches in Colorado are Joe and Deanna Betterman. They are already like family to me, and I truly feel like I am flourishing under their guidance and mentorship. They have trained and competed at the highest levels, and they know what it takes to truly develop wrestlers. My favorite quote from Joe is the following: “I’m not training you just to be a state champion or a national champion in wrestling or even a World or Olympic champion. I’m training you to be a champion in everything and in life.”

I am seeking to develop a similar relationship with my college coach. While my goals are to become an NCAA champion and to help raise the level of wrestling in the room so the whole team benefits, I also hope to have the support and push from you, my coach. I want to continue training to make a world team and chase gold medals in the Worlds and Olympics. I always seek to be up front and want to share my goals with you.

How did I get into Wrestling? In kindergarten I was diagnosed with ADHD Combined Type 1 & 2. Medications were recommended, but my father sought out alternative treatments and eventually turned to the sport of wrestling as a positive outlet. Whereas other young kids would wrestle seasonally, I was wrestling in a club and training all year long.

The sport became a natural cure for my ADHD. As my dad likes to say, it cut through the fog, and my mind became sharp as a razor. I have learned to adapt and control my ADHD to the point where I can master multiple tasks and still be hyper focused when I need to be. It is because of my development that even advanced academics come easily to me. I find that just like in wrestling, when you put in the work, you will get the results. This applies to everything in life.

I enjoy being a team member and working with my teammates so that we all improve. I am always striving to improve individually, but there is a great sense of accomplishment when you can see your efforts having a positive impact on your teammates’ success as well. Although I never think of myself being better than others, I realize that I am doing the work that most are not willing to do to get better. My goal is to attend a D1 program and to win an NCAA Championship. While in college, I want to train for a World Team and the Olympics in 2028.

After my wrestling career as a competitor is over, I want to remain active and engaged in the sport. I will dedicate myself to helping others to achieve their greatest potential as well. As I enter my senior year of high school, I feel like I am just getting started on this journey, and I’m very excited about the future. 

My Top Accomplishments to Date:

2024 Fargo Champion Greco Junior @150

2024 Fargo 8th Freestyle Junior @150

2024 Southern Regionals Double Champ Junior @157

2024 Northwest Regionals Double Champ Junior @157

2023 USA Wrestling HS Recruiting Showcase 2nd @150

2023 USA Wrestling Future Olympian Rankings #20 @ 152

2023 USA Wrestling Triple All-American @152

2023 Fargo 7th Freestyle Cadet @152

2023 Fargo 5th Greco Cadet @152

2023 Northeast Regionals Double Finalist Freestyle/Greco @160

2023 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals 4th Cadet @152

2022 USA Wrestling HS Recruiting Showcase 7th @145

2022 USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals 4th @138

2022 USA Wrestling US Open Greco 3rd @62kg

4-Time Fargo All American - 2023 - 2024

2022, 2023, 2024 Junior National Team Member