By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

Now a freshman at Hastings College, Hudiburgh has continued to have success while using a full-tilt wrestling style that has made him a fan favorite in the high school ranks. Hudiburgh is one of nine Broncos who will be competing in the NAIA national championships Thursday through Saturday at Sioux City, Iowa.

Hastings coach Shawn Kelley said the first thing that comes to mind when asked Hudiburgh's style was a match during the Great Plains Athletic Conference meet. Trailing his opponent by four points early on, Kelley said Hudiburgh flashed his coaches a bit of an ornery grin as if to let them know that he was actually in control of the match.

"Then Brandon just went out and put on a clinic," Kelley said. "That's the kind of wrestling he likes to do.

"With a lot of people, a win's a win, but he wants to go out and put a show on. He's kind of got that explosive attitude and that's what you need at nationals."

As for putting on a show, Hudiburgh said he isn't sure about that.

"I just go out and wrestle my style," Hudiburgh said.

If anything, Hudiburgh said he's probably less aggressive in college than he was in high school, simply because the competition is better.

"In college, you can't just go into your match and hit a blast double (takedown) right off the bat," Hudiburgh said. "You've got to set up your shots differently and learn how to stall a little bit, too."

Hudiburgh has apparently made the adjustment nicely. He was named the GPAC wrestler of the year and takes a 27-11 record into the national championships.

Kelley said he hasn't tried to rein in Hudiburgh and his rough-and-tumble style. He said that he and his assistants have only tried to help the 197-pounder add to his arsenal of moves.

"I think his offense is so much better now than it was at the beginning of the year," Kelley said. "Every week that he's wrestled, he's getting more confidence. He knows that he can score from about any position right now, so that's good."

Perhaps the biggest concern for Hudiburgh at the national tournament is that he won't be at full strength. He suffered a torn meniscus during the North Region tournament and defaulted in his last two matches to settle for a sixth-place finish.

"It was one of those things where we could've kept wrestling him, but at the time, we didn't know what it was," Kelley said. "He was already qualified for nationals, so there was no reason to keep pushing that day and tear it worse, so we just pulled him out of the tournament for precautionary reasons."

Kelley said he doesn't think the injury will affect Hudiburgh much at nationals.

"He won't be at 100 percent by any means," Kelley said. "But Brandon's 90 percent is probably still better than a lot of people's 100 percent. He's been practicing every day and running when he decides he can."

After winning the 189-pound Class A state title in 2006, Hudiburgh planned to wrestle at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

However, Hudiburgh later decided he wanted to find a smaller college where he could compete in both wrestling and football.

When Hastings College added a wrestling program for this season, Hudiburgh found a home.

"I just came in here open-minded with the idea that I could hopefully play two sports," Hudiburgh said. "I didn't want to give up football yet and I definitely didn't want to give up wrestling if I had the opportunity, so that's pretty much it."

Even with everything that Hudiburgh has accomplished this year, he's anything but satisfied.

"I'm not happy with it by any means, but there's always room to improve," Hudiburgh said. "That's what I've always focused on. The coaches here are supportive of everyone and what we're mostly trying to do is build that team camaraderie right now and build the whole program up."

In its first season of varsity wrestling, Hastings will send nine wrestlers to the national meet. Joining Hudiburgh will be freshman Jarrod Wiens (10-11 at 125), freshman Andrew Wiens (13-21 at 141), freshman Jeff Fallon (14-16 at 141), junior Andrew Hare (22-13 at 149), Hastings freshman Nick Konen (8-18 at 149), freshman Andrew Sorensen (14-19 at 165), freshman Jameon Rush (26-23 at 174) and Hastings junior Cody Millard (19-5 at 285).

With a roster that includes seven freshmen and two juniors, who have wrestled previously with other programs, Kelley said the national meet should be a good learning experience for the Broncos.

"We're kind of looking to get our feet wet and hopefully we have a good national tournament to build on for the future," Kelley said. "It's one of those things where we're not going in with a whole lot of expectations. We're just going to wrestle our tournament and hopefully have the same success we've had throughout the year."