University of Minnesota Athletics
Wrestling
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- eggu0003@umn.edu
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- Officially named head coach on January 26, 2017
- During his time on the coaching staff, has helped wrestlers win 107 All-America certificates, a group that also includes 33 individual Big Ten championships and 12 individual national champions
- While on staff, the Gophers have won three team national titles, won eight team trophies at the NCAA Championships and captured five Big Ten team titles
- Named Amateur Wrestling News "Rookie Head Coach of the Year" in 2016-17
- Spent five seasons as the program’s head assistant coach prior to becoming head coach
- Three-time NCAA All-American (177 pounds in 1998; 184 pounds in 1999 and 2000)
- 1999 and 2000 Big Ten Champion (184 pounds)
- 2000 Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient
- Four-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree
- Member of four teams that finished top-three at NCAA Championships
- Member of 1999 Big Ten Championship team
- Silver medalist at 2001 World Freestyle Championships and at 2002 Pan American Freestyle Championships; bronze medalist at 2003 U.S. National Freestyle Championships
BIOGRAPHY
Brandon Eggum enters his ninth season as head coach at the University of Minnesota in 2024-25.
Since joining the staff in 2000-01 following a decorated career as a Golden Gopher wrestler, Eggum has helped train and develop 12 individual national champions, 33 individual conference champions, and 107 All-Americans. Eggum helped play a crucial part in the national title runs of Luke Becker, Jared Lawrence, Dustin Schlatter, and Jayson Ness, as well as two-time champions Damion Hahn, Cole Konrad, Tony Nelson and Gable Steveson.
Minnesota has also had a remarkable run of team success throughout Eggum’s tenure, a stretch that has included all three of the program’s national team titles, five Big Ten championships, and seven National Duals crowns.
Tabbed interim head coach prior to the 2016-17 season, Eggum was officially named head coach on January 26, 2017. Since the beginning of the 2016-2017 season, Eggum has accumulated a 74-37 dual record, three top-10 NCAA team finishes, and 16 NCAA All-Americans. In March 2021, Gable Steveson became the first NCAA champion under Coach Eggum’s guidance with an 8-4 decision victory over Michigan’s Mason Parris. Steveson then followed it up with a title defense in 2022. Steveson also earned the first individual conference titles under Eggum, winning three straight from 2020-22. Isaiah Salazar added to the total with a win at 184 pounds in 2024.
A year ago, the Golden Gophers sent 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in program history and saw All-American performances from both Salazar and Vance VomBaur. Salazar finished sixth at 184 pounds and VomBaur, seeded 26th at 141, claimed eighth place to mark the fifth straight season with multiple All-Americans for Minnesota and the fourth year in a row where a Gopher seeded in the double digits earned All-America honors. Salazar's performance came on the heels of a Big Ten title at 184 pounds. Salazar became the first Gopher conference champion since Gable Steveson won three titles in a row at from 2020-22 and the first to do it at 184 pounds since Kevin Steinhaus in 2012.
During the 2020-21 season, Coach Eggum led Minnesota to an improved 7-2 record on the year, along with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Tournament with three All-Americans. Steveson earned both his first national title as an athlete, and Eggum’s as a head coach with an 8-4 victory in the heavyweight title match over Michigan’s Mason Parris. In addition, Patrick McKee and Brayton Lee earned third and sixth place, respectively, McKee also earned the Gorrarian Award, which is given the individual who obtains the most falls in the least amount of time at the national tournament, becoming the program’s second winner of the award.
In 2019-20, Eggum led Minnesota to a 9-8 dual record on the season, while earning eighth place including an individual conference champion in Steveson. Unfortunately, due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA Championships were canceled. Due to cancelation, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rewarded program individuals with three first-team All-America honors (Lee, Devin Skatzka, Steveson), and one second-team All-America honor (Mitch McKee).
The 2018-19 season saw Eggum collect his best dual record in his head coaching tenure thus far, with the Golden Gophers went 14-3 on the season, finishing the year with an eighth-place NCAA team finish and four All-Americans (Ethan Lizak, Mitch McKee, Devin Skatzka, Gable Steveson). Minnesota also hosted the Big Ten Championships during the 2018-19 season, where they placed fourth under Eggum.
In Coach Eggum’s first full season at the helm in 2017-18, the Gophers collected an 8-6 record on the season, placing 17th at the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, with Ethan Lizak earning the team’s lone All-America honors with a 4th-place finish at 125 pounds. Minnesota also went on the place 7th at the Big Ten Championships.
Named interim head coach prior to the beginning of the 2016-2017 season. His efforts under the interim tag, which included a 5-3 dual record and two top-5 tournament finishes at the Cliff Keen Invitational and the Southern Scuffle, were rewarded when the University of Minnesota removed the interim tag and hired Brandon Eggum as the eighth head coach in program history. Following the hire, Eggum and the Golden Gophers finished the season with a 7-5 record, a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championships, and a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. At the NCAA Tournament, Minnesota’s Ethan Lizak and Brett Pfarr became the first NCAA finalists in Coach Eggum’s head coaching tenure. Following the season, Eggum was named the Rookie Head Coach of the Year as voted by Amateur Wrestling News.
On the recruiting trail, Eggum has proven to have recurring success as well. Since the 2017 recruiting class (Eggum’s first incoming recruiting class following his hire), Minnesota has collected three Top-20 recruiting class rankings from FloWrestling, including two top-10 classes. The 2018 recruiting class has proven to be Eggum’s premier recruiting class thus far in his career, being ranked third and including All-Americans Gable Steveson, Patrick McKee, and Brayton Lee.
His promotion to head coach came after spending five previous seasons as the program’s head assistant coach. Prior to assuming an assistant coach role in 2004, Eggum served as the team’s strength and conditioning coordinator (2001-2004).
Prior to his coaching career, Eggum was a four-time letterwinner for the Gophers from 1997-2000. As a sophomore earned his first All-America honors at 177 pounds when he placed fifth at the 1998 NCAA Championships. Starting in 1999, Eggum bumped up to 184 pounds, where he would place second and third in consecutive NCAA championships, respectively. Eggum also won the Big Ten title at his weight in both of those season, and helped Minnesota win the 1999 Big Ten championship, which was the program’s first since 1959.
Still to this day, Eggum’s name holds a presence in the program’s record books, where his 115 career wins, .833 career winning percentage, and 61 career dual victories all rank among the Top-25 in Gopher history.
On the international circuit, coach Eggum has been able to find success not only as an athlete, but as a coach as well. As a wrestler, Eggum earned a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships at 85kg, while also becoming a silver medalist at the 2002 Pan American Freestyle Championships, and a bronze medalist at the 2003 U.S. National Freestyle Championships. As a coach, Eggum has served as the personal coach for Gable Steveson, who became an Olympic Gold medalist at the 2020 Olympic Games after defeating multiple-time world champions Taha Akgul (Turkey) and Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) en route to the Olympic Gold. Steveson also won the 2021 Pan American gold under Eggum.
In addition to his experience coaching the collegiate level, Eggum has spend many years working closely with local wrestling clubs. He speaks and teaches at clinics across the country, sharing his knowledge and passion for the sport.
As impressive as Eggum was on the wrestling mat, he also stood out in the classroom as a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in May 2000 with a B.S. in Applied Economics.
A native of Sidney, Mont., Eggum currently resides in Stillwater, Minn., with his wife Katrina, son Greyson, and two daughters, Lillian and Monroe.
