Born and raised on a dairy farm in the town of Newton, Wisconsin, Paul Brandl attended St. Isidore grade school, and graduated from Valders High School. Paul loved farming and planned to join his dad and family on the farm after graduation.

Actually, Paul planned to drop out of school as soon as the law allowed, but wrestling intervened and changed that plan. Ken Schermacher started a wrestling program at Valders , the 19th high school program in Wisconsin, during the 1951-52 school year, and a neighbor, Eddie Free, invited Paul to give the sport a try. Wrestling provided just the motivation needed to keep Paul in school long enough to graduate. Competing at the state level, Paul finished fourth in his junior year and second as a senior.

But he still planned to be a farmer, and had no intention of going on for further education. Coach Schermacher was the one to deliver the news that George Martin was offering Paul a scholarship to wrestle for the Badgers, an offer that changed the course of his life forever. While never a star, Paul made the team, worked hard and earned a treasured “W” in his senior year.

During his college years, Paul was also a member of the UW dairy cattle judging team, and spent all four years in ROTC, earning a 2nd LT commission upon graduation. After serving six months on active duty, Paul returned to Madison to continue work on a M.S. degree in science education, while also serving as an assistant coach to George Martin during the 1959-60 season.

Paul started his career as a science teacher and head wrestling coach at Greenfield High School in 1960, coaching the Greenfield Hawks to a conference championship in 1968. Later that same year, he became assistant principal at the high school and hired Ron Youngbauer to take over as head wrestling coach.

In 1965 Paul was married to Charlene Cape and they went on to have four children: Bobbi, Becky, Jill and Doug. The family moved to Algoma in 1970, when Paul became high school principal. Another move just three years later brought Paul and his family to Plymouth, where he started out as assistant principal, agriculture teacher and head wrestling coach, with Bob Rank as his assistant.

In 1974 Paul started the Plymouth junior wrestling club and soon added a middle school program as well. Saturday bus trips to attend kids’ tournaments became a regular event, with both Doug and Jill accompanying him on many of these weekends. As a wrestler at Plymouth High, Doug finished sixth and second at the state tournament, and then wrestled for five years for the UW Badgers. Jill became a wrestling official and officiated the boys’ high school tournament for two years.

While at Plymouth, Paul began videotaping and televising high school wrestling events over the Plymouth cable network. Once he moved to Madison, he also worked to broadcast and videotape Badger home dual meets on select local cable channels.

In addition to raising their own four children, Paul and Char became a Sheboygan County foster home and helped to raise 11 other children over a period of 20 years while living in Plymouth.

After leaving coaching and becoming a school administrator, Paul worked hard to hire teachers who would coach, believing that extra-curricular activities were the best drop-out prevention programs high schools had to offer.

After retirement, Paul moved to Madison to become a super Badger fan, insisting on living downtown, within walking distance of the Kohl Center and Field House, so he could walk to Badger events. He attends all wrestling home meets, along with some practice sessions and many Big Ten and NCAA events, in addition to the state high school tournament.
Paul proudly shares that he’s been at the state wrestling tournament in Madison since his first trip there in 1953. He has attended as a participant, a table worker, a coach, a referee, a dad, the parent of a referee, and a spectator.

Go Back One Page Alphabetical Index