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Glenwood High’s Wilson will wrestle at University of Iowa

Glenwood senior Myles Wilson, center, gets set to sign his National Letter of Intent to wrestle at Iowa University, as his father, Josh, right; mother, Lynn, left of Myles;brother, Amos, left of Lynn; Head Coach Guy Bickrell, behind Myles; and assistant head coach Miles Cook, behind Lynn, look on.

Through a ton of hard work, sheer determination and a desire to make a name for himself as a wrestler, Glenwood Springs High School’s Myles Wilson — the defending state champion in the 4A 170-pound weight class — signed his official national letter of intent Monday to attend the University of Iowa of the Big Ten to continue his wrestling career following high school graduation.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are a perennial wrestling power, currently ranked No. 2 in the country under the direction of Head Coach Tom Brands and Assistant Head Coach Terry Brands.

Prior to Wilson’s state championship, the Glenwood standout was receiving small school offers, but following his state championship, Wilson — the son of Josh Wilson and Lynn Jasutis-Wilson — went to a Pagosa Springs wrestling camp put on by Terry Brands. From there, Wilson got the chance to work with Brands, which led to an offer at the camp from the Iowa assistant.



Outside of working out with Brandses during the camp, the Iowa staff also got a chance to watch Wilson wrestle in Fargo, North Dakota, and the 2016 Super 32 Challenge in Greensboro, North Carolina, setting up the official visit and offer for Wilson.

“I just felt at home right away with Iowa,” Wilson said. “We have family not too far away from campus, and it wasn’t that far from home. Obviously it’s Iowa; you can’t really pass this opportunity up.”



The opportunity to go to a big time Division I powerhouse program like Iowa for any sport is rare for kids in a small town like Glenwood, but for Wilson, his hard work and crisscrossing of the country to compete in as many events as he could has led to his exposure on the national stage.

“It feels great to be able to do this,” Wilson said. “There’s not much more I can say other than my hard work finally got noticed and I’m heading to a good school. Hopefully they can turn me into a national champion while there. I never thought my hard work would take me to Iowa, so it definitely shows me that all that hard work was definitely worth it.”

While at Iowa, Wilson already has a plan for his academic success as he’ll look to double-major in biology and pre-med in hopes of becoming a doctor down the line. However, he would be fine with putting his doctoral aspirations on hold following graduation in hopes that he’ll chase his dream of becoming an Olympian.

He’s certainly headed to the right place to try and become an Olympian as Tom (1996) and Terry Brands (2000) represented the U.S. at the Olympics, while Joe Williams (2004) was the latest Hawkeye to don the red, white and blue in Olympic competition.

Adding another factor into Wilson’s potential success is the fact that once he gets to Iowa, he’ll get to train under current senior Sammy Brooks (184 pounds), who is coming off of a Big Ten championship for the Hawkeyes. According to Glenwood assistant coach Miles Cook, Brooks will stick around Iowa City to train for the Olympics, giving Wilson a chance to work side-by-side with him.

That’s pretty impressive for a small-town kid like Wilson. While the hard work and determination has come from Wilson himself, Glenwood Head Coach Guy Brickell was quick to point out that Wilson’s parents have just as much to do with his success as anyone.

“They’re terrific parents,” Brickell said. “It’s Opus Operantis: You get out of it what you put into it. I’m not surprised that this young man is heading to Iowa. That young man and his family have definitely put a ton into this sport. He’s got that potential to be great, and he’s got a tremendous support system behind him with his parents.”

With Wilson signing with a program like Iowa, the standout senior has set a high bar for athletics at the high school level in his hometown. He’s showing fellow athletes below him that anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it.

“It feels really good to be able to accomplish this as a small town kid,” Wilson said. “Hopefully it shows kids at any level around here that if you work hard — even coming from a small area — that you can accomplish your goals and make your dreams come true.

Wilson won’t hit the mats for Glenwood until later this month for the start of the regular season in which the senior will move up to 182 pounds while looking to claim his second straight 4A state championship, albeit in a higher weight class.


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