Northland Community & Technical College has hired Brandon Ballard as its head wrestling coach. Ballard, a native of Glen Burnie, Md., is the second head coach since Northland reinstated wrestling in 2013 after a 43-year absence. He replaced Scott DCamp, who guided the team from 2013-22.
Ballard previously served as head coach at the Panda Wrestling Alliance in Milton, Fla., from 2021-2022. Ballard was also the head coach at University of Maryland Baltimore County from 2019-2021, where he coached eight national qualifiers and one All-American at the NCWA National Championships.
Ballard began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2015 at North County High School in Glen Burnie, Md. He has led over a dozen kids to the state tournament at the high school level while also coaching multiple junior league athletes to state titles.
Ballard began his wrestling journey in 2008 as a freshman at North County High School. He was a four-year starter and finished his high school career in 2012 by winning a state championship. On the football field, Ballard was a two time All-County and All-Metro selection and was selected All-State as a senior. He also earned two varsity letters in track.
Following his high school career, Ballard went on to wrestle at NCAA Division I South Dakota State University, where he earned a spot as a starter during his true freshman season. After a one-year stint at SDSU, Ballard went to NJCAA Labette College in southeast Kansas. After obtaining his AA degree, Ballard ended his career at York College of Pennsylvania, where he qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships and fell just one match shy of making the podium.
Since competing in college, Coach Ballard has competed in nearly a dozen senior level events in freestyle wrestling. In 2019, he finished third in the last chance qualifier and finished just 1 match short of qualifying for the World Team Trials with a third-place finish. Ballard also competed in Minsk, Belarus, and placed third at the Pahlavani Games, which had over 50 nations represented.