Ask Brock Hardy to recall a time when he wasn’t a wrestler. He can’t do it.
The Brigham City native’s done many things.
As a teen, he won four consecutive Utah state wrestling titles at Box Elder High. He’s earned a college degree in psychology. He’s claimed multiple All-America honors at Nebraska along with a Big Ten title.
And last year, he reached the NCAA National Championship match at 141 pounds.
Hardy even learned Portuguese — a language he picked during a two-year hiatus from the sport while serving a Latter-day Saint mission in Brazil.
But, nope, he can’t remember, with certainty, when he officially became a wrestler.
“I’m pretty sure I was 3 years old when I started with the little league program at Box Elder with Coach Mike Ripplinger,” Hardy told the Deseret News, searching his mind for that distant memory.
“It’s been a long while.”
A popular performance concept asserts that 10,000 hours of focused practice leads to mastery in, say, music, chess or other disciplines.
Hardy likely has no clue how many hours, over the course of his life, he’s spent on the wrestling mat competing or training. But he passed that vaunted 10,000-hour mark long ago.
“All my cousins were in the sport — and I started going to the Utah State Wrestling Championships every year since I was probably 5 or 6 years old,” he said, before adding this understatement: “I’ve been around the sport.”
Given his wrestling resume, Hardy could — in the sport’s vernacular — “Leave his shoes on the mat” and retire today as one of the greatest wrestlers Utah’s ever produced.
But Hardy says there’s much more for him to do in the sport — and his college coach agrees.
“Brock can accomplish whatever he wants,” said Nebraska coach Mark Manning. “On the international level, he’s been a bronze medalist at the U-23 — so wrestled some really good guys in the world.”
But before Hardy shifts his attention to global competition, he’s eager to make his final campaign in Lincoln a memorable one.
A wrestling timeout: Missionary service in Rio
Hardy graduated from Box Elder High in 2018 with four state wrestling titles and the honor of being one of the nation’s top college recruits.
He was eager to compete for one of the country’s elite NCAA wrestling programs.
But he didn’t enroll at Nebraska until 2020 after completing his mission to Rio de Janeiro.
Wrestling is a highly technical sport, and Hardy knew two years away from competition would exact a performance cost, at least in the short term.
Serving a full-time mission was something Hardy had decided to do years earlier. So he never really wavered on his mission decision. But he did wonder about the timing. Should he leave immediately after high school — or first spend a year or two at Nebraska?
Looking back, he’s grateful for supportive coaches such as Manning when he made the call to become a missionary before reporting to Lincoln.
“The coaches at Nebraska just encouraged me to do what I wanted to do,” he said.
Manning was never concerned about saying farewell to a star recruit for a couple of seasons. He knew Hardy would quickly shake off any mission rust and be fully committed to integrating into the program.
“When you know Brock Hardy, you know his character,” the coach told the Deseret News.
The coach’s certainty of Hardy making a speedy “mission bounceback” has proven prescient.
Unfinished business for a decorated Husker
For the past three years, Hardy’s been an All-American — and each year he’s edged closer to that rarified feat: Being a national champ at 141 pounds.
In 2023, Hardy placed sixth in the NCAA Championships. A year later, he was the third-place finisher.
After claiming the 2025 Big Ten title, he entered the 2025 NCAAs as the top seed. But he fell just short of the national crown, losing 12-9 to conference rival Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in the NCAA final.
“It hurt, of course, to be so close,” said Hardy when asked to revisit that national championship match.
But the wrestling “technician” side that he’s developed over two decades in the sport allowed him to compartmentalize the disappointment, analyze the loss — and then immediately begin making adjustments.
He remains a student of the sport.
“Immediately,” he said, “I was thinking about what I did wrong — and what do I need to do to fix it. What do I need to do to get there another time? ... There was heartbreak. But I think my family and those closest to me were more heartbroken than I was.”
Every win and every loss, added Hardy, provide opportunities to learn something new.
Meanwhile, maturity teaches him to never “take the sport personally.”
“With every single match, you have the accepted outcome that you could win or you could lose — and that’s the worst thing that could happen.
“When you’re not shocked or blown away by outcomes, you can try to learn and grow as fast as possible.”
Most importantly, Hardy knew prior to the 2025 NCAA final that his personal worth — anchored to his Latter-day Saint faith, family and team — wasn’t linked to the outcome of a 7-minute wrestling contest.
“I knew before the match that the same thing would happen, regardless of the outcome: I’d walk off the mat and embrace my family and embrace my coaches.
“My value is not based upon winning or losing, but rather on growing.”
Hardy added that his mission in Brazil helped mold his athletics perspective.
“I don’t see myself as a wrestler,” he said. “I see myself as a human being that wrestles and does other things and enjoys doing other things.
“When the day comes and I put on wrestling shoes for the last time, it’s going to be OK.”
Beyond Hardy’s many “identifiers” — All-American, NCAA finalist, returned missionary — he’s also a husband.
Hardy’s wife, Kourtney, is a fellow Brigham City native.
Tough path to the 2026 NCAA title
But make no mistake — Hardy’s an “all-in” wrestler.
An athlete doesn’t claim state championships every year in high school, represent the United States in international competition and become a perennial All-American without relishing the top spot on the podium.
And he relishes another shot or two at his rival.
Barring surprises, Hardy will face Mendez again in Big Ten competition and, most likely, in national events.
“If I want to be a national champ, I’ll probably see him in the NCAAs — so I’ve thought about it, of course.”
And beyond Mendez, some of the toughest 141-pound guys in the country also compete in the Big Ten. Hardy’s path to an NCAA title will be dotted with almost weekly challenges against elite grapplers.
His 2025-2026 season is already off to a promising start. Earlier this month, Hardy claimed top honors at the 2025 Navy Classic and, last week, he easily defeated his 141-pound opponent at Nebraska’s dual meet with Army.
Nebraska is the No. 2 ranked team in the nation.
The thrill of lifting team trophies
Being a senior also offers Hardy new perspectives. He recognizes that the end of his remarkably successful college career is just months away.
Of course he hopes his time in a Cornhusker singlet ends with the referee raising his arm following victory in the NCAA finals.
“But you can’t just think about the end of March in five months. …So the thing I’m really working on this season is just putting up as many points as possible in every match.
“I want to go out and beat the next guy.”
Hardy’s also quick to note that while he faces his opponent alone on the mat, he’s part of a Cornhusker team. And there’s nothing, he added, quite like lifting a team trophy.
“That’s a huge goal of mine. It’s why I came to Nebraska. So a major goal for this season is to try to be the best leader I can be for the guys on this team.”
Chasing Olympics dreams — in nearby L.A.
Manning knows well that his All-American from Box Elder County will soon graduate from his program. But the veteran coach is certain some of Hardy’s best days in the sport are in front of him.
“Brock’s very special,” said Manning. “He’s got a great opportunity to make world teams after this year and make the Olympic team in 2028, that’s right down the road.
“He’s in prime position to be a 65-kilo representative for Team USA.”
Hardy’s also aware that the next Summer Games will be hosted in Los Angeles — just a day’s drive away from his hometown.
“My goal is to be an Olympic champion, so that signs me up until at least 2028.
And when his competition days are over, Hardy hopes to stay connected to the sport. But he also plans to pursue graduate studies in psychology.
Wrestling has taught him to prepare for plot twists.
“So I’m keeping both doors open.”