Brandon Douglas Paulson (born October 22, 1973) is a former Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler and current wrestling coach. Paulson was born in

Coon Rapids, Minnesota Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the largest city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census, making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Ci ...

, and is a 1992 graduate of

Anoka High School Anoka High School is a four-year public high school located in Anoka, Minnesota, United States. It serves grades 9– 12 for the Anoka-Hennepin School District 11. History The first Anoka High School was opened in 1904 and located in downtown An ...

. At Anoka High, Paulson was a three time state champion in his weight class and was named Mr. Minnesota Wrestling in his senior year after finishing with a career record of 155-12-1. Paulson was the first high school wrestler to earn a spot on the U.S. National Senior team when he qualified for the 1991–1992 team. In 1993 he was a Junior World Silver Medalist. Overall, he earned 16 national titles in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling, and was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 114.5 lbs weight class in Greco-Roman wrestling. Following the 1996 Olympics, Paulson wrestled for the University of Minnesota, becoming an NCAA All-American in 1998. After his collegiate career, Paulson continued to focus on Greco-Roman Wrestling, as he went on to represent the United States in the World Championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003, winning a silver medal in 2001. After retiring from wrestling, Paulson served as assistant coach for the

wrestling team from 2005 to 2008 (helping to produce seven individual championships at his alma mater) and was named USA Wrestling's Greco-Roman Coach Of The Year in 2008. Paulson was also the trainer and personal mentor for Greco-Roman wrestler, and fellow Anoka alumni, Jake Deitchler as he prepared to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Paulson went on to be a club coach for the Minnesota Storm and currently is the co-director of the Pinnacle Wrestling School in Shoreview, MN and continues to be a coach for USA Wrestling. In September, 2011, Paulson was named to the inaugural class of the Anoka High School Hall of Fame. In 2019, Paulson was inducted into the

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

as a Distinguished Member. Paulson, his wife Rochell, and his three children, Elijah, Abby, and Sydney reside in Anoka. Abby was an elite gymnast training at

Twin City Twisters Twin City Twisters, commonly shortened to TCT, is an artistic gymnastics facility located in Champlin, Minnesota. A number of elite gymnasts, collegiate gymnasts and Junior Olympics national qualifiers have trained there, including Maggie Nichol ...

, and is now a gymnast at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. She qualified to the P&G Championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She also qualified for the 2017 Jesolo Trophy, Jesolo, Italy - 1st-Team, FX(T); 3rd-AA.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulson, Brandon 1973 births Living people Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in wrestling People from Coon Rapids, Minnesota Sportspeople from Anoka County, Minnesota Wrestlers at the 2003 Pan American Games Olympic medalists in wrestling American male sport wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Anoka High School alumni