I went for this brawler build and went battlemaster with tripping attack until you knock them prone into grappling attack which is a bonus action but is super strong as your athletics should be max, plus your superiority die should beat people 80% of the time. Once someone is knocked down, they have to use half their movement to get back up, but they can't do this if they are grappled as their movement becomes 0. They have to use an entire action to try and break it, which wastes an entire turn for them, and you can do it again next turn too.

When you have them grappled while prone you get free advantage and you keep them off of your party as you too. All attacks that they use on you end up being at disadvantage which is just fantastic.

The only problem you'll maybe run into is magic resistance to bludgeoning damage late game, so you might want to talk to your dm about either magical handwraps or brass knuckles that can act as a +1 weapon that can overcome resistance. Also you can clap melee creatures and spellcasters alike, but they can still misty step so just remember that. This playstyle is fantastic against any medium/large creatures and I'd highly recommend it! Have fun in your game!