Brock Lesnar's college days

July 7, 10:26 AMCollege Wrestling ExaminerMark Palmer

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Brock Lesnar's official University of Minnesota
portrait for his senior year, 2000

This week, Brock Lesnar is grabbing all the headlines.

This weekend, Lesnar will defend his UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight title vs. Frank Mir at UFC 100. However, before Lesnar first entered MMA competition – or even before he was “The Next Big Thing” in the WWE – Lesnar was making headlines in college wrestling.

A decade ago, Brock Edward Lesnar burst onto the big-time college wrestling scene in a big way when he stepped out onto the mat as the University of Minnesota’s starting heavyweight in January 1999. Before joining the Golden Gophers as a junior, the native of Webster, South Dakota had wrestled for Bismarck State College, where he was a two-time NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) All-American, and 1998 NJCAA heavyweight champ, compiling an impressive 56-3 record. Minnesota’s head coach, J Robinson, saw Lesnar in action at a college tournament, and immediately offered him a scholarship.
 

Overnight, everything changed in the world of NCAA Division I college wrestling. Standing 6’ 3” and tipping the scales at 285 pounds, Brock Lesnar created a sensation with his muscular physique. In a sport where some heavyweights resemble the Pillsbury Doughboy, Lesnar’s sculpted body-build – with 20” neck, 52” chest and 36” waist -- generated buzz in online amateur wrestling forums and in arenas across the nation. Even all-time great wrestler and retired University of Iowa Hawkeye coach Dan Gable was impressed. As commentator for Iowa Public Television’s College Wrestling, Gable said, “When Brock Lesnar strips off his warm-ups, he turns more heads than Cindy Crawford in a thong.”

Brock Lesnar about to do battle vs college rival Wes Hand of Iowa for the heavyweight
title at the 2000 NCAAs

Lesnar’s physique wasn’t the only thing that turned heads. He became known – and feared – for his relentless, take-no-prisoners style of wrestling that sent opponents flying. In fact, in his first year as Minnesota heavyweight, he lost just one regular-season match – to Trent Hynek of Iowa State University – generating a 24-1 record his first year at Minnesota.

Brock Lesnar enhanced his record as a junior when he claimed the 1999 Big Ten heavyweight title, shutting out Karl Roesler of the University of Illinois, 7-0, in the finals. Two weeks later, he was the second seed in the 32-man heavyweight field at the 1999 NCAAs at Penn State, sailing through his side of the bracket… until he encountered the defending champ, Stephen Neal of Cal State Bakersfield. The top-seeded Neal denied Lesnar the title, winning 3-2. (Neal went on win the 1999 World Freestyle Championship, and, now as guard for the New England Patriots, owns three Super Bowl rings.)
 

As a senior, Brock Lesnar set out to prove that his incredible first year in the college big-leagues was not a fluke. During the 2000 season, he again lost only one bout – to Wes Hand of the Iowa Hawkeyes – in his home gym at Minnesota. However, Lesnar got revenge, defeating Hand in a bruising title match to win the 2000 Big Ten heavyweight championship.

The two men were destined to meet one last time on the mats. At the 2000 NCAAs in St. Louis, Brock Lesnar was the top seed; Wes Hand was seeded second. After a 4-2 victory in his opening match (vs. Bart Johnson of Boise State), Lesnar pinned his way through three other opponents to find himself in the finals for the second straight year… facing familiar foe Wes Hand. The title match went into overtime, but Lesnar scored an escape to break the deadlock, winning 3-2 TB (tiebreaker)… and claiming the 2000 NCAA Division I heavyweight crown, becoming the third big man to win a college title for the Minnesota Golden Gophers (the others being Leonard Levy and Verne Gagne in the 1940s).

There was talk of Lesnar trying out for the U.S. Olympic team to compete that fall at the 2000 Sydney Games. Instead, the big man from tiny Webster, South Dakota entered the world of professional wrestling, then mixed martial arts competiton… and has been making headlines ever since.

Resources

University of Minnesota videos of Brock Lesnar in action

Big Ten video on Brock Lesnar

Author's article on Minnesota's legacy of NCAA heavyweight champs

Yahoo group for NCAA Heavyweight Champs (including Brock Lesnar)

Mixed Martial Arts Examiner homepage

The UFC Monster's UFC 100 predictions at InterMat