The Pride of Pueblo – The Willits Brothers

Grant and Hunter Willits are wrestling at Oregon State. Before that, they were state champions at Pueblo County High School. Grant won three state crowns. Hunter won four titles. What a year 2022 has been, as redshirt juniors, both became All-Americans. Hunter took seventh at nationals, knocking off the defending national champ on the way. Grant took fourth, as the twins achieved their dream of reaching the podium, "To take forth is crazy for me. I’m still processing it all. It may be still hasn’t even hit me yet, but I just know how crazy that is," says Grant Willits. "I dreamt of being able to walk home with an all-American trophy, and being on that podium. To be able to achieve that really means a lot to me," says Hunter Willits.

It's even bigger than that, because they get to represent Pueblo, "I’ll always bleed green and gold from Pueblo County. Not everybody would know if they ask where I was from in Colorado. I already know that they don’t know what or where Pueblo is. It’s kind of a cool feeling," says Hunter. Grant adds, "You always want to be the hometown hero, and represent your home as best as you can. We’ve definitely, I would say, put it on the map."

Although there's one thing left to be resolved. Hunter got a cool nickname in high school, "The Pueblo Sniper," says Hunter. But Grant didn't but since they're both engineering majors, Danny Mata suggested, "I’m Grant Willits the Engineer of Pain. That’s good!”