Boston University 1994 alumni Tod Giles was a wrestler, coach, mentor, friend, husband, father, and among other recognitions, the first BU wrestler to earn Division I All-American honors.

Giles, a 1999 BU Hall of Fame inductee, died suddenly of undetermined causes at the age of 45 this August. For friends and colleagues of the BU wrestling legend, Giles, who leaves behind his wife and two children, will be remembered as outgoing, intelligent and intensely devoted to the sport he loved.

Former BU assistant wrestling coach Matt Fortune said he first met Giles through the World Class Wrestling School, a summer camp that has drawn more than 15,000 kids in its 23 years. The camp is run by BU wrestling coach Carl Adams.

“I knew him when he was in college,” Fortune said. “He was sort of a role model for me.”

Fortune, who was in middle school at the time he first attended the camp, said Giles was a “fantastic teacher” who was devoted to conveying technique and form to his students.

“As far as wrestling, he wanted to get it done the right way and he wanted to teach his students how to do it the correct way and making sure that his student athletes improved in wrestling as well as life,” Fortune said.

Giles, who spent his freshman year at the University of Rhode Island, was recruited by Adams, who was then the Rams head coach. When URI dropped its wrestling program, Adams took his coaching career and three of his wrestlers – Giles included – to BU.

“Tod was one of the top wrestlers to come to Boston University,” Adams said. “He was a four-time conference champion, and he was also the first NCAA All-American for Boston University.”

Adams said one of the most unique aspects of Giles’s wrestling career was the fact that he had not won any state championships during his high school wrestling career, yet he qualified for NCAA honors all four years.

Giles’s role as an Olympic alternate in Grecco Roman wrestling in 1988 and 1996 and his four years as West Point Military Academy head coach rank as the achievements he is most proud of, Adams said.

Giles also spent several years in the Marines and was a veteran of the Gulf War.

“There was an interim period where he had not graduated yet, but he joined the Marines,” Adams said. “[Giles] wrestled for the Marines for two different stints and then he returned to BU as an assistant coach and he finished his degree.”

In 1994, Giles completed his bachelor’s degree at BU and began coaching at West Point.

“He was an intelligent individual,” said World Class Wrestling assistant camp director Tim Clouse. He said Giles was “intuitive, and he could read a situation and make a good judgments.”

Although Clouse never coached Giles, he said they often had conversations about different wrestling situations and various tips and tricks.

“[Giles] was very open and receptive for what everyone had to offer,” Clouse said.

He said Giles was always looking to improve his skills in the sport.

“He climbed to heights that not very many [athletes] reach,” he said. “He just continued to learn the sport and get better and better. I considered him to be an elite athlete.”

Fortune said Giles was never uncomfortable openly communicating with others, and was someone he could always talk to and rely on.

“He was always willing to sit there and talk to those student athletes about anything else they had going on,” he said.

BU Athletic Director Mike Lynch said Giles’s passion for BU athletics and his desire to see it succeed was apparent in many ways, and became a part of everyday interactions with him.

“[Giles had] a real bubbly personality,” Adams said. “[He was] incredibly confident in his abilities and very outgoing.

“I’m hoping at some point in the future we can provide some sort of celebration of Tod’s experience as a BU wrestler,” Lynch said.