DENVER — Broomfield senior Cody Tanner slumped to the ground, his back crumpled-in tight against a wall following his state match Thursday.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before he was completely sucked underneath the tile flooring at Ball Arena. Here, on ground level at the opening day of the state wrestling tournament, emotions come fast and often in different poses. Some are just harder to read than others.
Tanner was a Day 1 winner who only looked defeated afterward. He was sick. The senior, along with Legacy’s Matthew Clifton and Skyline’s Tobias Pinson, were among those to advance into Friday’s quarterfinals.
Their early wins have them believing they can reach their first podium.
“We’re all battling stuff, and we all just got to find a way to win a match,” Tanner said, only a few minutes after throwing up. “The best wrestler is going to win.”
Tanner, his hair retreating every which way following his 14-9 decision over Mountain View’s John Paul Salazar in the 4A 120-pound bracket, looked as sick as he said he felt afterward.
The senior, committed to the Virginia Military Institute, wasn’t at his best, admitting he was caught earlier in the match, and nearly pinned. He said it’s his “obsession” for the sport that continues to drive him forward.
National Signing Day… Congratulations to Cody Tanner and his commitment to @VMI_Wrestling. Looking forward to watching him next year! 🤼🎉. Come celebrate his accomplishment today at 3:15pm in the BHS auditorium. pic.twitter.com/BgOh04cKpa
— Broomfield Wrestling (@BHSwrestlers) November 8, 2023
“It’s doing the things that no one else would for this sport,” Tanner said. “If you need to go on a 5-mile run at 3 a.m., no one else is doing that. If you asked me to do that three years ago, I’d have said no. But now, I’ve grown to be completely obsessed.”
A mat over, Clifton wrapped up a win at 5A 126s, beating Chatfield’s Sid Dillon by a 7-3 decision.
The sophomore said he felt more confident than his freshman appearance at state, when he fell in the first round. The scene, spectacle and stakes got to him then. In fact, he was so rattled he showed up to his first-round match without his singlet.
He can laugh about it now.
“I went to take my clothes off and I was like, ‘Oh, no singlet.’ I freaked out,” he smirked. “My athletic director was in like level 200, and he passed it down to my teammates who passed it down to me on the mat. Then I ran back in the tunnel and put it on.”
His teammates, coaches, even his brother at college, had good advice for him Thursday: “Make sure you have your singlet on.”
“This year I walked out to the center of the mat and I looked up to the sky, looked at all the lights, looked at all the fans, and found my family. I really soaked it up,” Clifton said. “It’s like, this is where I am supposed to be … I belong here.”
The quarterfinals begin Friday morning, with 3A/2A starting at 8:30 a.m. and 5A/4A following at 12:45 p.m. Semifinals are after, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Just off his first-round win, Pinson was already thinking about what adjustments he needs to make for tomorrow.
“I felt great, more positive (than last year). I know myself a little bit more, my limits and how to push those limits. Great mindset this year,” he said after beating Broomfield’s Asher Diamond 5-1 in 4A 126s. “The first one is always great to just get the jitters out and evaluate where you are.”
Mead, projected to make a run at the 4A team title and win a number of individual golds, sat second after Day 1, only two points back of Windsor.
On The Mat, the site ranking wrestlers and teams in the state, predicted the Mavericks would finish second to Pueblo East in the 4A team race. OTM also had Otto Black (138s), Jake Glade (150s), Leister Bowling IV (175s) winning titles. All three won by first-period pins in Round 1.
Rounding out local teams in the top 10 after the first day, Broomfield is seventh in 4A, led by Mars Soto, OTM’s favorite to win 285s. Erie is ninth in 4A, and Holy Family, led by OTM’s 3A 215 pick, Abram Moore, is fifth in its class.
