Cole Konrad (born April 2, 1984) is an American retired

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter. Konrad won a gold medal at the 2005 Pan-American Championships. He won the NCAA wrestling championships in 2006 and 2007 at 285 pounds and finished third at the 2006 World University Championships at 120 kilograms. He was the first Bellator Heavyweight World Champion.

Amateur wrestling career

High school

After transferring from New London High School in New London, Wisconsin to Freedom High School in Freedom, Wisconsin. Konrad compiled a 101–15 record and won the 2002

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

state championship. He was listed as a first team high school All-American at 275 pounds by both the Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling USA Magazine. During his high school career, Konrad also excelled at freestyle and

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

. He won the 2002 Junior National Championships in both styles.

Collegiate

Konrad wrestled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

where he won two

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

titles. The first came during an undefeated junior season of 2006 and he followed that up with another undefeated, title winning performance in 2007. His overall collegiate record finished at 155–13, with 10 of those losses coming during his freshman season. Konrad gained notoriety in wrestling through his rivalry with Steve Mocco. Mocco is a two time NCAA champion for Oklahoma State and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. As Mocco attempted to win his third NCAA title during the 2006 season, Konrad beat Mocco a total of three times including a pin at the National Duals and a 5–2 victory in the NCAA title match. Konrad is the all-time Minnesota record holder for consecutive wins with 76. He recorded a pin in his final collegiate match over

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

wrestler Aaron Anspach.

International

While concentrating on collegiate wrestling, Konrad has managed to develop a strong international record as well. In 2005 he won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and finished third at the U.S. World Team Trials. In 2006 he won the bronze medal for the 264.5 pounds freestyle weight class at the World University Championships in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

Mixed martial arts career

Konrad made his professional

debut on January 23, 2010, defeating Gary "Chief" Hamen on the Martial Arts Xtreme promotion's Max Fights 8 with a neck crank, which is a modified rear naked choke from half guard that his training partner,

Brock Lesnar Brock Edward Lesnar ( ; born July 12, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and professional American football player. As a ...

, nicknamed the "Polar Bear Choke". His second professional fight was a TKO in the first round over Joel Wyatt.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Konrad made his Bellator debut May 6, 2010 at Bellator 17, where he won a unanimous decision against Pat Bennett. He went on to win his next three fights by unanimous decision: Bellator 22 against John Orr, Bellator 25 against Rogent Lloret in the Bellator Season Three Heavyweight tournament quarter-final, and at Bellator 29 against

Damian Grabowski Damian Grabowski (born May 12, 1980) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist who last competed in 2019. A professional since 2007, he has fought in the UFC, Bellator, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), Fight Exclusive Night and M-1 Global. ...

in the Bellator Season Three Heavyweight tournament semi-final. Konrad won the Heavyweight tournament final and became the first Bellator heavyweight champion at

Bellator 32 2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010, and ended on June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the Featherweight (MMA), featherweight, Light ...

with an Americana submission in round 1 against

Neil Grove Neil Grove (born 18 January 1971) is a South African-English Heavyweight professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Grove has competed for the UFC, Bellator Cage Rage, UCMMA, and the SFL. Background Originall ...

.
In 2011 Konrad won a non-title decision over Paul Buentello. This fight surprised most observers, as it was contested entirely standing, unlike most Konrad matches. More than 18 months after winning the title, Konrad finally had his first official title defense, against Season Five Tournament Winner Eric Prindle, another opponent known primarily for his striking. This time, Konrad took the fight to the ground quickly and dispatched Prindle within a minute. According to his coach, Greg Nelson, Konrad trained for a single day to prepare for this fight. Konrad retired from MMA competition on September 12, 2012 to become a full-time commodities broker.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

* Bellator Fighting Championships ** Bellator Heavyweight World Championship (One time; First) **One successful title defense ** Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight Tournament Winner *Fight Matrix **2010 Rookie of the Year

Amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic Games, Olympic, Collegiate wrestling, collegiate, Scholastic wrestling, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, fr ...

* International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles **2007 Sunkist Kids International Open Senior Greco-Roman Bronze Medalist **2005 Pan American Championships Senior Freestyle Gold Medalist *

International University Sports Federation The International University Sports Federation (FISU; ) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of ...

**2006 FISU World University Championships Freestyle Bronze Medalist * USA Wrestling **USA Senior Freestyle National Championship Runner-up (2007) **USA University Freestyle National Championship (2006) **USA University Folkstyle National Championship (2003) **USA Junior Freestyle National Championship (2002) **USA Junior Greco-Roman National Championship (2002) ** ASICS Tiger High School All-American First Team (2002) **USA Junior Greco-Roman National Championship Runner-up (2001) **Northern Plains Junior Freestyle Regional Championship Runner-up (2001) **Northern Plains Junior Greco-Roman Regional Championship (2001) **2004 South Regional Olympic Team Trials Qualifier Senior Greco-Roman Winner **2003 FILA Junior Freestyle World Team Trials Winner **2003 FILA Junior Greco-Roman World Team Trials Winner *

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I Collegiate National Championship (2006, 2007) **

Division I Collegiate National Championship Runner-up (2005) **

Division I

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

(2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) **

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

Championship (2005, 2006, 2007) ** Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year (2007) * Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association ** WIAA Division II High School State Championship (2002) ** WIAA Division II All-State (2002) ** Valley 8 Conference Championship (2002) ** WIAA Division I All-State (2001)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Eric Prindle , Submission (kimura) , Bellator 70 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Paul Buentello , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 48 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Uncasville, Connecticut, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Submission (keylock) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 29 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Rogent Lloret , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 25 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , John Orr , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 22 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Pat Bennett , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 17 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Joel Wyatt , TKO (punches) , Matrix Fights 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:23 ,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Gary Hamen , Submission (neck crank) , Max Fights 8: Elimination , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:13 ,

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

, United States ,

Notes and references

External links

*
Cole Konrad profile at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
* *
The Official Minnesota Gopher WebsiteThe Official Wrestling site of the NCAAThe Official site of USA Wrestling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Konrad, Cole 1984 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Wisconsin Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling Bellator MMA champions American male sport wrestlers Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestlers Sportspeople from Appleton, Wisconsin People from Neenah, Wisconsin Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners