While Peyton’s Britton Holmes uses goggles to help him see his opponents on the high school wrestling mat, his outlook for the future is unobstructed, if unorthodox.

On Thursday, the small-town senior will trade in his dreams of winning an NCAA title for visions of Olympic gold as he signs his letter of intent to join the Greco-Roman wrestling program at Northern Michigan University and train at the school’s Olympic training site.

Holmes, who never has adhered to the athletic norm with his severe vision impairment, will go away from the traditional folkstyle wrestling seen in U.S. high schools and NCAA colleges to Olympic-style Greco.

Before his big day, the defending Class 2A champ seemed confident with his choice.

“Since I was a little kid I always wanted to win a state title and when I was littler I said I would go off to college and win an NCAA title,” Holmes said. “Now finding Greco and the love of Greco, it’s changed.”

The biggest difference from Greco to folkstyle is that wrestlers can’t attack below the waist.

There’s also no breaking contact with an opponent on the mat, said Ed Holmes, Britton’s dad and wrestling coach. So, Britton, who can’t see near or far, “could wrestle Greco with his eyes closed.”

In reality, it’s much more than that.

“I don’t think about eye sight much, I just like Greco,” Britton said. “Greco, you’re always in the situation that you have to wrestle. I just love that you have to go out and grind.”

Holmes thought about going to a local college while training for Greco at the Olympic Training Center. But with Northern Michigan, he said he liked that the school and program were connected directly.

He heard all about it from Northern Michigan wrestling coach Rob Hermann in November at the Greco-Roman Malar Cup in Sweden, where Holmes impressed with gold in the Cadet division.

“At Northern Michigan you have to attend your school and train,” said Britton, who carries a 3.5 GPA. “You can’t get sidetracked in your schooling. That was a big deal for me.”

Britton, the Panthers’ only state champ in wrestling, will join 40-45 resident athletes in the fall in hopes of working towards a spot on future U.S. world and Olympic teams.

Teammate Wyatt Lee, who grew up friends with Britton on and off the mat, said it’s a match made in heaven.

“Britton has always gone for it,” Lee said. “Greco is one of those things you have to be willing to grind and have to be willing to battle.

“Britton’s got a really good combination of hard work, grit and grind.”

Holmes will sign at Peyton High School at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday in front of family, friends, and Hermann, who will be in town for the Dave Schultz Memorial International.

Then it’s back to the mat for Holmes, who hopes to return to the Pepsi Center to defend his crown later this month.

“These last three weeks of this high school season is very important,” Britton said. “I’d like to end it with a second state title.”