Blue Springs, Mizzou grad Dom Bradley finishes third at U.S. Olympic wrestling trials
Dom Bradley won’t be wrestling in the Olympics — at least not yet.
Bradley, a Blue Springs High and Mizzou graduate, finished third Saturday in the freestyle division 125-kilogram weight class during the USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.
He dropped a 6-2 decision against eventual champion Tervel Dlagnev in the semifinals, but rebounded with wins against Eric Thompson and NCAA runner-up Nick Gwiazdowski on the back side.
Bradley, an assistant coach for the Wildcats and in-school detention teacher at the Blue Springs Freshman Center, retained his spot on the USA Wrestling national team with a third-place finish.
“A lot of people, if they lose, don’t show up for the matches and they retire, but I was really proud to go back out there and represent all my friends and family that were there and all the people who’ve supported me,” Bradley said.
Bradley, who competed but didn’t place at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, plans to continue wrestling and try again during the 2020 qualifying cycle for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“I think I have another cycle in me,” Bradley said. “My body’s holding up well. I’m just happy I got to compete hard and got to have a better showing than last time. I wrestled four amazing people and beat three of them. I was right in there in that one match I lost, but now that guy’s a two-time Olympian.”
Bradley’s goal is to unseat or succeed Dlagnev during the next four years, a mission that begins immediately.
“I’ll start thinking about it Monday after school when I start lifting,” Bradley said.
Wrestling in the Greco-Roman 66-kilogram class, Brian Graham, a 2006 Park Hill graduate, lost his opening-round match and, after rebounding with two wins, was eliminated in the consolation semifinals.
This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Blue Springs, Mizzou grad Dom Bradley finishes third at U.S. Olympic wrestling trials."