It’s a long way from Montpelier to London

-- Schuyler Brown is a member of the U.S. Junior World (U-20) women's wrestling team. Pardon Schuyler Brown if she has circled London on her map and the summer of 2012 on her calendar.

The Montpelier native won three national women's wrestling titles in 2008 and is a front-running contender to represent the United States at the 2012 Summer Games in England.

"Certainly, she's an Olympic candidate," said Shannyn Gillespie, wrestling coach of the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. "That's three years from now. If she continues to progress, there's no reason she won't be going to London."

A member of the U.S. Junior World (U-20) team, Brown won the National High School Folkstyle Nationals in Livonia, Mich., the Body Bar Nationals in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Junior Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, N.D.

"I only think Schuyler has lost two or three matches, total, since she's been with us," Gillespie said. "Her greatest strength may be her coach-ability. You tell her something once, and she's got it. And she's such a hard worker. . . . It's difficult holding her back."

In this case, the "us" Gillespie refers to is the Olympic Education program that Brown joined last year as a high school senior. Last year, she trained at Northern Michigan while finishing high school at Marquette High - she wrestled for Hanover County's Patrick Henry High before that.

This year, she is a freshman at Northern Michigan, on the frigid Upper Peninsula, majoring in psychology, but at least unofficially minoring in wrestling.

"What I've learned is that it takes more than just regular practice," she said. "You've got to stay after and work on the little things. Every tiny thing counts."

Practice begins at 5:15 a.m. The afternoon session runs from 1:45 to 3:45, but Brown said, "I usually stay one-two hours after, maybe more." After that, she says, "I attempt to study."

The 5-6 136-pounder is preparing for the National Women's College Duals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Saturday), the College Nationals in Missouri Valley, Mo. (Jan. 31) and an endless string of competitions.

"This year my goals are to make the Senior National World Team," she said, noting she was second in that qualifying tournament last summer in Colorado.

With such demands on her time, Brown was asked what she did for fun.

"Wrestling is fun," she said. "Well, maybe it's a job, in a sense, because of all the work that goes into it. But it's the best job I've ever had."