By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor

As a New York state high school champion, Josh Glenn could have gone to many of the superpowers of wrestling. Instead, he chose American University … and coach Mark Cody.

“In high school I had a really good relationship with my coach and I knew that was a fundamental part of my wrestling career,” said Glenn, who captured his state title in 2003 for Johnson City High School. “When I was getting recruited, Coach Cody seemed like the best fit for me. He really cares about his wrestlers and cared about me. He’s carried me along since then.”

“I told him I would give him the best workout opportunity that he would have compared to anywhere else,” said Cody, the former Missouri wrestler who later made a name for himself as an Oklahoma State assistant coach before taking over the American position in Washington, D.C. in 2003.

“He’s had some great partners. We do camps in the summer time and we tried to find as many workout partners for him in the off-season. He spent two weeks with (former Oklahoma State national champion) Chris Pendleton when he was a freshman. I still have a great relationship with the Oklahoma State guys and we’re going to have a camp with those guys this May.”

Glenn was seeded No. 2 at this weight so it should not have been a surprise to find him in the championship match. But a year ago, Glenn was seeded No. 1 at 184, but finished fourth in Oklahoma City.

“I learned what I needed to work on more,” said Glenn. “I needed to work a lot more on my feet and being aggressive toward the end of the match. When you lose like that it keeps you hungry for the next year, so I wasn’t going to let the same thing happen again.”

Coincidentally, the junior saved his best for last in Auburn Hills, where he avenged his only loss of the season to Iowa State’s Kurt Backes — who pinned Glenn at the Midlands in December — by taking the Cyclone down just ten seconds into their sudden victory period.

“I didn’t approach (facing Backes) any differently than any other match,” said Glenn, who finished the season at 28-1. “I stayed with the fundamentals that worked for me.  I stayed solid and aggressive and just kept attacking.”

At first, Glenn’s championship appeared to be in jeopardy when the mat referee first gave the Eagle a match-deciding takedown, only to take it away in the closing seconds of regulation.

“To be honest, I messed up my finish and he was able to get my ankle,” Glenn said. “It was a tough call but I knew I was going to win the match no matter what so I didn’t care if I got the call or not. I knew I was going to stay aggressive and keep wrestling.”

It’s the American way.

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