The numbing despair had yet to fully fade Thursday for its Weld Central wrestling team as it began the CHSAA state championships.
But the Class 3A app from Keenesburg came together at the Pepsi Center to pay tribute using a group mantra printed on Weld Central warmup shirts: #LeviStrong.
Levi Gerkin, also a sophomore 145-pound wrestler, expired Jan. 30 following a single-vehicle crash in unincorporated Adams County. He was 16. Teammates dropped interviews Thursday, but Weld Central trainer Elliot Copeland explained the group has held collectively now three months because Gerkin’s passing.
“It was horrible losing Levi,” Copeland said. “We’re not going to utilize it to why we didn&rsquo but not as motivation, either. It’s a part of our narrative. We desired to honor Levi as we could, to recall his contributions, and a part of the group he was. ”
Gerkin, and the quarterback of Weld Central’s football team, was a rising star wrestler. He missed qualifying for state as a freshman, also this season, Gerkin had conquered this past year, wrestlers who placed at state.
Gerkin’s obituary posted online reads: “Levi’s amazing love for all in existence was amazing. Levi loved the gorgeous outdoors, enjoying fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, boating, ATV’s (that he ) loved crafting things with wood. He enjoyed spending time with family his girlfriend, and his friends/teammates. ”
On Thursday, Weld Central wrestlers wore singlets using “LEVI” spelled down the rear as well as warmup shirts with #LeviStrong, and a photograph of Gerkin with his arm raised on the back. The group qualified seven wrestlers .
“(Gerkin) was with a excellent time, he was really physically talented, he was stubborn … he was a lot of things, guy,” Copeland stated through misty eyes, then paused a minute to recover his composure. “It’s really hard being here without him. But rsquo & now we;ve been attempting to push on the notion that this is something you get to do just a couple of times. When these opportunities can be removed from you and you never know. That’s particularly true with our staff this year. ”
The outpouring of community support has been overwhelming sometimes, Copeland explained, with all Weld Central opponents paying their pleasures. One powerful instant s regional tournament.
Oscar Fonseca, the head wrestling coach at 3A Jefferson in Edgewater, made a tribute for Gerkin and put it stand following Jefferson senior Zander Condit had won the region title. Tears fell across the fitness center.
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“My little brother passed away 19 decades back in an auto accident going to his senior year, so I can empathize with what the family is going by,” Fonseca said. “I was 21-years-old at that time and I do recall some of the excellent gestures that people did and it helped me to get through this. ”
Added Condit, the opposing wrestler who gave up his podium area for Gerkin’s tribute: “He was a good child, and if I learned about it, I was miserable we lost a person at the wrestling community — that hurts everyone. It looked like the right thing to do. ”
Gerkin’s spirit was real inside Pepsi Center for those who understood him since their bond is unlike most athletes, as well as wrestlers that didn ’ t.
“It’therefore school game and there’s a whole lot of grind, both physically and mentally,” Fonseca said. “Everyone appreciates that you & rsquo; re out there as even a wrestler or a trainer, and they also know how much work it takes to achieve success. Not only in losses and wins , but to be on the mat. That’therefore why everyone is so close. ”
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