Bio

Brandon Mendoza joined the Defiance College men's wrestling staff in July 2026. He comes to DC after a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Tiffin University, where he was also a two-time national qualifier as a wrestler for the Dragons.

Mendoza has three years of college coaching experience following two seasons as a graduate assistant and one year as a part-time assistant at Tiffin. While attending junior college in Modesto, Calif., Mendoza also served as a high school girls head coach and boys assistant at Buhach Colony High School.

Prior to coaching, Mendoza compiled a decorated wrestling career. During his senior year in 2016, he was the runner-up finisher in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section before going on to a top-12 finish at the state championship meet. His college wrestling career started at Modesto Junior College, where he was a two-time state placer and an NJCAA All-American in 2019. At Tiffin, he was a three-time Division II Academic All-American, a two-time team captain, and qualified for the Division II National Championship in 2022 and 2023. As a senior in 2023, Mendoza finished eighth at nationals while wrestling at 125 and was also awarded the GMAC Elite 26 Award for carrying the highest GPA among wrestlers in the conference.

Coach Mendoza is a native of Atwater, California and completed his bachelor's degree from Tiffin in 2023 with studies in Health, Fitness, and Wellness. In 2025, he completed his master's in Higher Education Administration.