Picou to wrestle at West Point
By Maria McIlwain
May 16, 2017
Eldon Picou is always up for a challenge. He’s also been drawn to the Army as long as he could remember.

The Manhattan senior was one of 1,200 admitted to West Point out of 14,000 applicants. He will also wrestle for Army.

“I’m very happy,” Picou said. “It’s been a long process, a lot of little steps I needed to get taken care of, and I’ve had great people to get me through all of that.”

Picou thinks wrestling will help him stay motivated at West Point.

“I think it will help keep me busy, keep me focused, keep my drive up,” he said.

He will make friends in his class through basic training, but he thinks wrestling will help him form bonds with cadets in all levels.

“It was a great team atmosphere,” Picou said. “Wrestling builds bonds that almost no other sport can touch.”

Picou’s grandfather was in the Army, and he has made connections with soldiers at Fort Riley.

“I’ve met a lot of good people who were in the Army, and quite a few supportive people in my life have been in the Army,” Picou said. “I feel like it will teach me good qualities.”

The application process for West Point started in the early fall with essays, personal information and recommendation letters from his football coach, Joe Schartz, and wrestling coach, Robert Gonzales.

He also had to secure a nomination from Jerry Moran, one of Kansas’ U.S. Senators. The two met at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene.

“The nomination process is its own application and its own set of questions, and it’s pretty much like getting a job,” Picou said. “It was really cool because you got to meet with a lot of different cadets, and I got interviewed by two different groups, and that was part of his review board. And I guess they liked me enough to where they gave me the nomination.”

After a medical evaluation and eye exam, he was admitted, and that’s when he thought about wrestling for Army.

The essays were nerve-wracking for him, but he had classmates and teachers proofread for him. He said one of the toughest topics was addressing how he would work with people of different gender or religious backgrounds.

“I kind of figured out that if I don’t work well with people, then people don’t like to be around me,” he said. “I feel better when I’m nice than when I’m mean to people. It just happens naturally, I guess.”

He started his wrestling career at Eisenhower Middle School, and at Manhattan, he finished with a 135-37 record and 97 pins. Because he wrestled in the heavyweight class, he didn’t always have someone to practice with.

He also played football throughout high school and was selected for the annual Shrine Bowl, but he won’t be able to participate because he will already be at training.

Picou is most excited for his first time on the mat with his new team and practice partners.

“I got to watch a few of the guys go; they were really good,” he said. “I could tell by watching, their form was different than anything I’d ever seen in high school. Their strength is phenomenal. They’re big guys, like 260 (pounds), throwing each other around, and I’m like, ‘OK, this is going to be fun.’ I like a challenge, and I’m definitely going to be challenged there.”