It is amazing in life how things change in 365 days.

    One year ago, former Highland wrestler Gaylen Edmo was in the middle of his final season in high school and just a few weeks away from winning his second consecutive 5A state wrestling championship in the heavyweight division.

    He had also just made one of the biggest decisions of his life when he committed to wrestle for the United States Naval Academy.

    “I am happy that I will be wrestling at the Division I level,” Edmo said back in January. “I am looking forward to the challenges at the next level and the year at prep school will allow me to get in better shape and improve on the mat.”

    Since then a lot has changed for the now member of the United States Navy, and if asked he’d say he would not have changed a thing.

    Edmo left Pocatello in July and headed to Newport, R.I. to enroll in the United States Naval Academy Prep School, where he would spend the next 10 months before reporting to Annapolis, Md. and the Naval Academy.

    The reason Edmo headed to prep school before the actually academy was so that he could adjust to military life and work on his academics, as the academies are some of the toughest institutions in the nation.

    Coming from the freedom of being a high school student whose only real responsibilities were to go to class and go to practice, to the strict structured life of the military is extremely challenging and something to which many people have trouble adjusting.

    But for Edmo it was something he knew was in store, and as tough as it was he adapted fairly quickly.

    “It is hard to adjust at first to not having a lot of freedom,” Edmo said. “But our officers and senior enlisted officers help us adjust. It is definitely a wake up call coming from civilian life. It took me about a month to adjust to things here.”

    Before leaving for Rhode Island, Edmo enjoyed being able to decide what he wanted to do and when he wanted to do it. Now the Navy sets his schedule, which begins daily at 5:45 a.m.

    As a high school student Edmo could get up for school, throw on whatever clothes he wanted and leave. And as is often the case with kids in high school, beds are not made, there is stuff all over the floor and many times bedrooms look like disaster areas.

    Now when Edmo wakes up, he puts on his uniform and then must make sure his bed and room are clean to very specific standards.

    “We are constantly going from 5:45 a.m. until we go to bed around 11 p.m.,” Edmo said. “We are going to chow, class, wrestling practice during the day and in the evening I am meeting with tutors, going to chow and then doing homework. It is a very long day and something that is tough to get used to at first.”

    While Edmo was able to adjust to military life rather quickly, he also had to get used to living in a new place 3,000 miles from home.

    “It is definitely different being in Rhode Island,” he said. “But it is beautiful. The base overlooks the ocean. While I miss Idaho, hunting and fishing, I am going through a new phase in my life.”

    Edmo has been able to come back to Pocatello twice since he left for prep school in July. He was home for Thanksgiving and most recently, spent 10 days in town for Christmas.

    “It was nice to be able to see my friends and family and get to do some hunting and fishing,” he said. “I got to see my teammates from Highland and catch up with how things were going for them and let them know what I am going through.”

    Edmo is back in Rhode Island now and is looking to improve his grades even more in his final semester of prep school.

    While there, Edmo is taking classes in English composition, mathematics, chemistry, physics and information technology.

    “The academics are very challenging,” he said. “The classes are hard but I have lots of help learning how to study and do homework, which is something I did not do a lot in high school.”

    But wrestling is where Edmo has faced the toughest challenges.

    While still at Highland he said he was looking forward to wrestling at the next level. But his first time out on the mat for the Naval Academy Prep School he found out that things are a whole lot tougher than they were in high school.

    “I love wrestling at the next level,” Edmo said. “Every match is tough. It is an entirely different atmosphere at matches now. It is more serious. It is like a state championship match every time out.”

    While at Highland Edmo compiled a record of 146-17 and a school record 120 pins. So far in his college career he’s had his fair share of success and failures.

    “I have been beaten five times so far this season,” Edmo said. “I have won an open tournament and finished seventh at another. I am definitely a better wrestler now than I was when I got here.”

    Edmo wrestled at 285 pounds in high school, and he began his college career at the same weight. But when the season begins in a few weeks, he will be wrestling at 235 pounds.

    “I have dropped 40 pounds,” Edmo said. “We have to do some much working out and my coach has pushed us (so) hard in practice, it is hard not to lose weight. My coach has definitely whipped me into shape.”

    Of all of things Edmo has learned about himself in the last few months is that what he is doing at school is bigger than him. He has a sense of pride every day when he puts on his uniform. It did not take long for him to realize he is not just representing himself, his family and the Navy, but the nation as a whole as well.

    “I have seen myself change a lot since I have been here,” he said. “I have grown up a lot. When I was home for Christmas people said I have changed. If I have then that is a good thing.”

    Edmo is on pace to graduate in May and will head to the Naval Academy in the summer.

    “I am very glad I went to prep school,” he said. “It is going to make things easier when I transition to the Naval Academy because I have already been through what a first year student goes through by being at prep school.”