He grew up somewhat different than most wrestlers. Size was never to his advantage, and he had one other minor detriment.
Junior wrestler Brandon Hallifield was born deaf - but no matter how hard it would be, his mother vowed he would have an ordinary childhood.
"I was really determined," Diana Hallifield said. "If at all possible, I wanted him to be able to completely function in a hearing world, as opposed to living in the deaf community. I tried to really keep him in the mainstream."
Hallifield grew up in Clinton Township, a small suburb of Detroit, and was attending public school by age 3.
He would go to school for half of the day, which included special language classes, and then spend the other half of the day with his mom - going to parks, museums and other places where she could help him learn and practice speaking.
"She spent pretty much all of her free time working with me on developing reading skills, teaching me how to talk," Brandon Hallifield said. "I'm just thankful that she cared that much about me that she wanted to help me."
His mother didn't just help him, she devoted herself to tutelage and assisted him in any way she could.
"It was a lot of work," she said. "Every moment I was awake, I was talking to him.
"I would read and read and I never knew what he was getting. It probably would've been easier to go the other route, but I'm glad we went the route we did."
At 22, Hallifield now is able to distinguish words through a hearing aid in addition to reading lips.
Hallifield became interested in wrestling at a young age but enjoyed a wide variety of sports.
"Wrestling was always just the sport for me," he said. "For some reason, I was always drawn to it."
Once it was time for high school, he chose to go to Harper Woods Notre Dame, where he participated in wrestling and compiled a 57-3 overall record.
Despite his attractive performance, things weren't always easy.
Hallifield endured many injuries throughout his wrestling career, with the most trying coming in form of an ankle injury at the end of his junior year in high school.
From that point, and for the next four years, Hallifield's wrestling career would remain relatively unstable.
"I was pretty confused with wrestling, but there was something in me that wouldn't let me give it up without trying to accomplish something first - I wanted to reach a milestone," he said.
"I didn't really know that much about Michigan State, but I thought it'd be a good place to come and start over. I thought about it, and I decided, 'What the heck, I'm gonna try out for the wrestling team.'"
Because of various reasons, including weight requirements and scholarship limits, Hallifield was cut soon after making the MSU wrestling team as a walk-on his freshman year. He didn't want to give up, however, and assistant wrestling coach Roger Chandler didn't want him to either.
Chandler, who Hallifield says has been his biggest mentor, said Hallifield's hard work, devotion to the sport and work ethic make him a role model for his teammates.
"He's always been a kid who's wanted direction," Chandler said. "With that direction, he's always been willing to make sacrifices to achieve things he hasn't been able to achieve in the past."
Hallifield continues to make sure nothing stands in his way - he even uses his hearing disability to his advantage.
"Wrestling-wise, it has actually been kind of a blessing," he said. "When I'm out there, I don't have to worry about what's going on on other mats or people screaming at me and things like that - I can just focus on my opponent."
Although he hasn't seen much action at the 133-pound weight class, his goals for wrestling as well as academics remain in tact.
"Earlier this year, I decided that there were two goals I had for myself before I graduate from college," he said. "I want to graduate with at least a 3.0 GPA, and I want to become an All-American."
Hallifield said he knows his goals may seem unreasonable to some people, but sooner or later, if you work hard enough, he said, "dreams will come true."
"One thing he is is persistent," head coach Tom Minkel said. "I'm really glad he has aspirations. One thing he's done is he's gotten better every year."
And Diana Hallifield agrees. She said her son has leadership qualities that he tries to instill in his teammates.
"Maybe he's not going to be the best wrestler," she said. "But what he contributes to the team matters. He pushes his hearing peers to do good in school; he'll practice with people. I'm really proud he's been able to go to a university as large as that and do as well as he's done."
As the MSU wrestling team closes its home season against Indiana on Sunday, Hallifield will continue to keep his dreams alive, because to him, everything has happened for a reason.
"I just keep telling myself that no matter how hard it gets, I'm just going to keep going and do my best," he said.
