Brennan Swafford places third at U23 World Team Trials

Brennan Swafford needed a shot in the arm, a boost of confidence heading into his second season with the University of Iowa wrestling team.

Swafford, who has aspirations of competing internationally after college, got just the confidence boost he was looking for last weekend.

Swafford placed third at 79 kilograms in the U23 World Team Trials in Ohio, knocking off several top-notch wrestlers along the way.

Swafford, a graduate of Mediapolis High School and a two-time NAIA national champion for Graceland University, lost a 5-2 decision to Michael O'Malley of Pennsylvania RTC in the semifinals, but battled back to win two tough matches in the consolation semifinal ad finals to place third.

If Swafford was looking for a barometer to gauge his improvement, he got just that against some of the best freestyle wrestlers in the country.

"I showed a lot of improvement and technique in my style. I am looking to keep evolving with my wrestling and work on some more stuff. I feel like I'm getting to it pretty well," Swafford said. "The past couple months I have really been working hard and getting into the groove with freestyle. The biggest thing is making sure I am mentally prepared, making sure I am ready to go. There were a lot of tough guys in that tournament. That was probably the best competition I have seen at a freestyle tournament in a long time."

Swafford had an impressive run to the semifinals. He beat Aaron McDaniel of Edinboro, 10-0 in his first match, then beat former national champion Ed Ruth of Penn State, 4-0, in the Round of 64. In the Round of 32, Swaford posted an 8-0 win over Lucas Uliano. He rolled to a 13-2 win over Sam Wolf of Air Force RTC in the quarterfinals before coming up short in the semifinals.

Swafford came back with a 10-0 win over Danny Braunagel of Illinois before scoring a late takedown in a 7-5 win over Max Mayla of Cliff Keen Wrestling Club in the third place match.

"I was trying to push the pace," Swafford said of the winning takedown. "I got around him and got in on that shot. He was staying in really good position and had really good defense. He was keeping me away from his legs."

For Swafford, it was a big learning opportunity.

"I need to work on moving guys laterally instead of straight forward to create angles to get to my shots," Swafford said. "I need to trust my offense. Shoot and not wait until the last couple seconds. There are not many guys who can beat me because I am so fast. I just need to create angles, get guys moving side to side. Mentally, I feel like I am right there."

Swafford got the opportunity to work the Mediapolis wrestling camp with his brother, Shea, on Friday night.

"That will be a big moment for me going back to Mediapolis," Swafford said. "It's one of my first more serious camps. A lot of those kids look up to me, so this is a good chance for me to teach them some skills and be a good role model."

Swafford, who is living in Iowa City, will get back to training for the upcoming season next week. He is expected to compete with Nelson Brands for the starting spot at 174 pounds for Iowa.

"I'm not sure what is next. The coaches will figure all that out," Swafford said. "I plan to keep lifting hard and get in the room a lot. We've got a lifting routine and it is very intense. I'm going to get my body ready for next season."

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: Swafford knocks off seven top opponents to go 7-1 and place third