Brandon McDonoughMcDonough wrestled at Lincoln High School in Des Moines, where he won the 112-pound Class 3A title at the 2003 Iowa state wrestling championships, defeating future University of Iowa NCAA finalist Joey Slaton of Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 3-2, in the finals, capping off a 38-0 junior season.
"I reminded myself every day, in every morning run, in every practice, how hard I had to work to beat my opponent," McDonough told Des Moines Register wrestling writer Dan McCool after winning that state title. "It was pretty easy because that's what I wanted more than anything – to win."
McDonough was a four-time state placer. In addition to his 2003 state championship, he placed 2nd in 2001, 3rd in 2002, and 3rd in 2004. In 2012, McDonough was inducted into the Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2014, welcomed into the Lincoln Wrestling Alumni Hall of Fame.
For college, McDonough headed east to Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2007, he won the 125-pound title at the New England Wrestling Association championships. McDonough followed that by earning All-American honors by placing third at 125 at the 2007 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. That season, McDonough compiled a 41-5 record, with 12 pins, and 83 takedowns, on what many consider to be Johnson and Wales' most successful college wrestling season in history. In 2014, McDonough and the entire 2007 wrestling team was inducted into the Johnson and Wales University Hall of Fame.
Brandon Robert McDonough was born April 9, 1986 in South Korea and came to the U.S. in August 1986.
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