Parker BrandAs a high school sophomore, Parker reached the state finals at 171 pounds when most people thought he would be lucky to even place. After his senior year of a high school, Parker, who was not ranked nationally, competed at the NHSCA High School Nationals, went 6-1 against the nation’s best high school wrestlers, finished third, and took home the award for the most falls in the least amount of time. In February, Parker, who was unranked and failed to win a match at the regional tournament, reached the finals of the 2009 NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) Championships while competing at 197 pounds.
Growing up in Southeastern Minnesota
Rushford, Minnesota is a small agriculture town nestled in the heart of southeastern Minnesota's Bluff Country. Parker Brand’s father, Dale Brand, was born and raised in Rushford, where he excelled in wrestling and football. He qualified for the Minnesota state wrestling tournament at heavyweight in 1983. He then went off to college at the now-defunct University of Minnesota-Waseca, where he played football.
Dale passed on his love for sports to his two sons, Parker and Logan. When Parker was in kindergarten, Dale took over as coach of the elementary school wrestling program at Rushford-Peterson. After Parker started wrestling in kindergarten, it wasn’t long before his younger brother (by 18 months), Logan, followed suit and started wrestling.
Parker and Logan would wrestle in five or six local tournaments a year and usually fared well. There were seasons where both boys would finish the season undefeated.
“It was always my brother and me competing against each other for the most pins of the year,” said Parker. “We always had little competition between us.”
Dale chose not to send Parker and Logan to tournaments in other areas of the state. He also held the boys out of regional and state events.
“I saw kids back in my day that did a lot of wrestling,” said Dale. “And they kind of got burned out by it. I didn’t want my kids to get burned out. I always wanted them to want more. Maybe I should have taken them to some more tournaments, but it always kept them striving and wanting more.”
Wrestling varsity
Parker began wrestling varsity in seventh grade for Rushford-Peterson. A year later, when Parker was in eighth grade, Rushford-Peterson combined its wrestling team with its neighboring school, Lewiston-Altura, and became Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson (LARP).
“My first few years on varsity were really rough,” said Parker. “Not too many wins. But I had good practice partners that really helped me improve.”
When Parker was in seventh grade, he practiced regularly with Hank Becker, a senior at the time who went on to place in the state tournament that season. Hank had his way with Parker in the wrestling room. One night, Parker came home from wrestling practice and his nose was so sore that he couldn’t touch it because Hank had been crossfaced him so much. Parker said to his mom, 'Don’t tell Dad about it … because I don’t want him to say anything.’”
In ninth grade, Parker broke his leg just a few matches into the season, which forced him to miss most of the wrestling season. He came back shortly before the section tournament and nearly qualified for the state tournament.
The next year, when Parker was a sophomore, he reached the state tournament for the first time in his career … and the state finals.
“Making it to state was pretty sweet,” said Parker. “I had a goal that year just to place. At the state tournament, I really wasn’t looking at the bracket too much. I have never really believed in looking at the bracket or scouting. It all comes down to heart at the end if you keep it close. All of a sudden, before I knew it, I was in the state championship match. Then the nerves really kicked in. I was really nervous there.”
Parker lost in the state finals as sophomore, but that performance helped him gain notoriety on the wrestling mat. But it wasn’t only on the wrestling mat where Parker was gaining notoriety. The previous year, he had started on Rushford-Peterson’s varsity baseball team that reached the state finals. He was also excelling on the gridiron in football. As a junior, he helped lead Rushford-Peterson’s football team to the state title. Parker, a running back and linebacker, was named the Player of the Game by a local radio station in all the state tournament games.
Parker Brand capped off an undefeated senior season by winning a Class A state title in Minnesota at 215 pounds (Photo/The Guillotine)In the fall of his senior year, he and his dad visited Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC), a school located in Rochester, Minnesota, and an hour drive from Rushford. They met with RCTC wrestling coach Randy Rager.
“Parker was looking at playing two sports,” said Rager. “He wanted to do football and wrestling. There aren’t a lot of schools that will let you do both anymore. They want you to specialize in one or the other.”
Shortly after that visit, Parker made the decision to attend RCTC.
As a senior, Parker dominated his competition all season long. He went undefeated and won the state title at 215 pounds, becoming Rushford-Peterson’s first state wrestling champion ever.
“I had gotten third and second, so there was only one more place to get,” said Parker. “I had a lot of desire to get there. I was ranked No. 1 all season. I never let anything stop me. I just had a lot of determination and believed that no one could beat me.”
The Brands had initially heard about the NHSCA High School Nationals, an annual event for all high school grade levels, back in 2006 when Parker qualified for the event by finishing second in the state tournament. But Parker chose not to compete that year or as a junior.
During Parker’s senior year, Dale Brand talked to some people in the Minnesota wrestling community who encouraged him to send Parker to the NHSCA High School Nationals. Not only did they see it as a good opportunity for Parker to test himself against the nation’s best high school wrestlers, but it was also an opportunity to get some national exposure. Every year, coaches from all the top wrestling schools in the country attend the NHSCA High School Nationals in hopes of landing some recruits in the late signing period.
Parker flew to Virginia Beach with the assistant wrestling coach at LARP, Mike Buringa, while Parker’s mom, dad, brother, and sister drove nearly the nearly 1,000 miles. When Parker arrived at the tournament, he was amazed by the enormity of the event.
“Going there, walking into an arena that holds 30 mats and easily could get another 10 more in there, it was kind of overwhelming,” said Parker. “But I was there to have fun. My goal was to place and become an All-American.”
Parker won his first match 11-2 and then pinned his next three opponents. He suddenly found himself in the semifinals in one of the nation’s most prestigious high school wrestling events.
His opponent in the semifinals was Marcel Dubose, a three-time Michigan state champion and Junior Nationals champion whose physique resembled that of a body builder, not a high school wrestler.
Marcel DuboseParker still believes he could have and should have won that match, which would have put him in the national finals.
“In Minnesota, you don’t see a lot of injury breaks,” said Parker. “If you’re taking an injury break, you’re hurt bad. There’s no just stopping to take a breath. There was a lot of that going on out there.”
After losing to Dubose, Parker pinned his next opponent and closed out the tournament with a 13-1 victory to place third. He also won the trophy for most the falls in the least amount of time.
Randy Rager“I was definitely worried,” said Rager. “I was keeping good track on how he was doing. We are in a situation where it’s sometimes difficult to recruit. We don’t give scholarship money. Kids come here because they want to wrestle.”
After his NHSCA High School Nationals performance, a lot of schools showed interest, including some Division I schools. But because Parker had not taken his ACT, which is not required to attend RCTC, it made it difficult for Parker to even consider going anywhere but RCTC. Plus, he wanted to play football and wrestle, which he may not have had the opportunity to do at another school.
“Parker in a way wanted to go look at these schools, but he knew himself he wasn’t really wasn’t ready for that step,” said Dale Brand. “It was really an honor for him. He felt really privileged to be getting the offers.”
A rollercoaster first year at RCTC
Parker enrolled at RCTC last fall and joined the football team. He quickly earned a spot as the starting fullback on the team. He got off to a fast start. He scored a touchdown in his first game and was averaging five yards per carry through the first two games. But in the third week of the season, while doing a drill with the defensive backs in practice, Parker posted his hand on the ground, his thumb got caught, and he completely tore the tendon in his thumb. The injury put him in a cast for eight weeks and put an end to his football season.
Parker missed the first few weeks of the wrestling season while still recovering from his thumb injury. He finally recovered from his injury and returned to the mat. But less than a week after returning, he suffered another setback. While wrestling in practice, he dislocated the ring finger on his other hand, which put him on the shelf for another six weeks.
“Being hurt all year, it was really hard mentally,” said Parker. “But I kept my mind in it. Through the injuries, it was really hard to do that since it was also my first year of college and all that brings. I kept my mindset. Once I came back, nobody knew who I was. I wasn’t ranked because I hadn’t wrestled.”
Parker Brand reached the finals of the 2009 NJCAA Championship after going 0-2 at the North Central Region (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)“I can’t blame it on anything,” said Parker. But if anything, it would be that I was not in shape at all. I fell apart in my first match. I had already majored the guys that got second and third and pinned the guy that got fourth.”
After Parker was knocked out of the tournament, Dale Brand approached his son and had a heart-to-heart with him.
“I gave him an hour to cool down, and then he and I sat down against the wall in the hall and had a talk,” said Dale. “He just wanted to get back to town and help his younger brother prepare for the state tournament. I said, ‘Parker, Coach Rager already talked to me and he is pretty sure you are going to get in on a wildcard. You have to realize that I’ll take care of your younger brother. I’ll do him good just like I did you good. Don’t worry about him. Right now, you have the opportunity to go and win a couple matches hopefully. Try to be an All-American there. You just have to learn to adapt. Your willpower and heart will take over. Just give it one hundred percent. Don’t hold back. You’re going to regret it when you get older if you don’t give it one hundred percent.’”
Just as Rager predicted, Parker received a wildcard into the NJCAA Championships. Parker also took his father’s words to heart.
“After that, getting the wildcard, being hurt, and not in shape, I knew that I had to kick it down if I was going to make a run at it,” said Parker. “So I put in a couple extra hours that whole week up until nationals.”
At the NJCAAs, which were held in Rochester, Parker got on a roll. He pinned his first two opponents, and then picked up decisions in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Once again, he found himself in a position not many people expected him to be … wrestling for the national title.
“Everything was clicking,” said Rager. “With Parker, it’s all about feel. When you get those kids that are all about feel, they’re going to be pinners. It’s not going to be a thing where they’re going to score a lot of points and win a lot of close matches. Either they’re going to get a pin or they’re going to wrestle someone who is fundamentally better and end up losing. But he found himself in a position to get quite a few pins. He was starting to take some shots that he wasn’t comfortable taking earlier in the year … and he was in better shape.”
Parker Brand lost 15-6 to Iowa Centra's Phil Hawes in the finals of the 2009 NJCAA Championships (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)“We fed off each other all season,” said Parker. “He helped me so much … and I think I helped him.”
Clark went on to capture the national title, but Parker’s run was halted in the finals as he lost 15-6 to Phil Hawes of Iowa Central.
The future
After an injury-filled season and a strong finish on the mat, Parker has made the decision not to continue on with this football career. He wants to focus strictly on wrestling. After he finishes up at RCTC in the spring of 2010, he hopes to continue on with his college wrestling career. But at this point, he’s not yet sure where he’ll end up.
“I’m going to take one year at a time,” said Parker. “I just want win a national title next season.”
This story also appears in the June 26 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on how to subscribe, click HERE.
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