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Fatherhood Driving Broderson Through 2023-24 Season
11.16.2023 | Wrestling
Julien Broderson is wrestling for something bigger than himself this season. During the offseason, Broderson and his fiancé, Macie, welcomed their baby girl, Olive.
The Cyclone 197-pounder shared a special moment with his family after his season debut in Hilton Coliseum Sunday night. Broderson pinned his opponent from Davidson in a mere 45 seconds and, afterwards, blew a kiss into the crowd.
Waiting on the other end to receive the kiss were Macie and Olive, who had just turned six months old two days prior.
TIME FOR LAUNCH 🚀@jbiii_13
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) November 13, 2023
🌪🚨🌪 pic.twitter.com/4UXDOUwiXp
"When I came to Iowa State, I never knew that I would have a child in the stands watching me," an emotional Broderson said afterwards. "Getting that pin and looking up to the crowd to see my family here, seeing my fiancé and our baby, it was awesome."
Broderson says his favorite thing about becoming a father to Olive is seeing her grow from day to day.Â
"Randomly, you'll just notice she does something new one day and you're like, 'oh, that's new,'" Broderson said.Â
Balancing school, wrestling and family life is a challenge for Julien and Macie, albeit a welcome one. To make it all work, they attack each day with a plan.
"We're in bed by like 9:00 every night just because we have to get up so early every morning," Broderson said.Â
Olive became part of the team almost immediately and the rest of the Cyclone wrestling team has also formed a relationship with her.
Broderson explained that there have been times where the team has an off day and instead of taking Olive to daycare, he'll bring her into the wrestling room while he gets a workout in.Â
"I set up her playpen and then there's people who come in and out, hold her and just hang out and play with her while I'm working out," Broderson said. "It's pretty cool to see the relationship my teammates have formed with her."
"Having her around builds even more team chemistry," Broderson continued. "I already trusted my teammates before we had her but trusting them to hold her and take care of something so precious takes it to another level."
Along with his teammates, head coach Kevin Dresser and the rest of the coaching staff has been helpful and understanding with the big changes in Broderson's life.
"If I need to go and we have a workout, I'll get through it and then they understand that I need to go do stuff and be a father," Broderson said. "That's been super important that I've had such accepting coaches to do that."Â
If raising a child wasn't a big enough change, Broderson jumped two weight classes over the offseason from 174 to 197 pounds. He spent numerous hours with strength coach Ben Durbin in the weight room during the summer, packing on 51 pounds to his frame while maintaining the same body composition.
Off to a 1-0 start to the young season, Broderson is leaning heavily on his family for support and motivation.
"It's really just a life changing thing," Broderson said. "Someday, I want Olive to look back and realize that I did this for her and hopefully she'll think its cool that her dad wrestled for Iowa State."
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/ Wrestling
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