LOUISVILLE, Colo. — With wrestling season on the horizon, Monarch senior Vince Cornella is grappling with the reality of joining some elite company.
"A lot of my friends over the years accomplished this and it's something I've wanted to accomplish for a long time. I mean, from Andrew Alirez, Jacob Greenwood, Cohlton Schultz -- these are all guys I grew up wrestling with. So to join them as part of that group would be a huge thing," he said.
Cornella is a three-time state champion and is favored to win the Class 5A state title in the 138-pound class this year. To earn the elusive "four-peat," he said it takes some mental fortitude.
"I think you have to love the sport," he said. "The mental side never has been an issue for me because I enjoy wrestling so much, so going into a tournament, I'm just excited to compete, going into a practice, I'm excited to get better, and I think that takes care of the mental aspect."
Cornella won the 106-pound state championship as a freshman, the 113-pound title as a sophomore, and the 126-pound title as a junior...all, of course, for Monarch High School. He never expected that his fourth attempt would be in a different school's singlet.
On Jan. 9, Boulder County Health ruled that both Boulder Valley School districts and St. Vrain School districts would not be allowed to compete in wrestling for the 2021 school season. The wrestlers were allowed, however, to compete for nearby districts.
"The biggest thing was sticking together," Cornella said. "Figuring out where we were going to go. We just needed everyone there.
Ezra Paddock has been coaching the Monarch Coyotes for 23 years, and has been the head coach of the wrestling team for the past 12 years. He said there was not a lot of time to process emotions.
"I felt sadness, for sure, for the kids, but it immediately turned into problem-solving for the kids so we could move forward for a season that means so much for them," he said. "I just started calling lots of Athletic Directors and coaches to see what it would look like if our kids did come over. We have a lot of kids that are really special to each other and they wanted to stick together, so we wanted to find the right spot for that to work."
Luckily, they never had to make that work. Less than a week later, both school districts came to the decision to allow wrestling at their respective schools with a few restrictions: all wrestlers must partake in remote learning throughout the season, and everyone must wear masks at all times -- including on the mats.
"Looking on the bright side, it gets us in better shape because we have the restriction of oxygen, so it's something we have to deal with and I think everyone on the team would say that they're just happy to be able to wrestle and the mask is just something to work through," Cornella said.
Coach said the student-athletes have been responding optimistically to the changes.
"You'll find in the wrestling community, we're so used to being challenged that we're just going to accept whatever it is and we're just going to say, 'Okay, how are we going to make this work the best that we can?' so, I think that's where the kids' minds went to right away too. It is a challenge, for sure, but we just try to solve the puzzle so we can put all of the pieces in the right place," Paddock said.
Namely, Cornella is in the right place. If he does win that coveted fourth title, it will be with his own team.
"I feel like Monarch's been my home for the past three years so far and I don't know if it would've changed my wrestling or anything, it just wouldn't have felt the same," he said. "It's not the best thing, but I would've done it with a smile on my face and ready to compete."
Paddock said it will be meaningful for the school to have his legacy stay within the Monarch community.
"I know it's a big deal to him but it's a big deal for our whole wrestling community," he said. "From our four-year-olds that wrestle for our junior program, all the way to the kids that have even graduated and know the work he's put in and the kind of kid he is."
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