When the final mats are rolled up inside Pepsi Center after the 2020 CHSAA state champions are crowned, a new era of Colorado high school wrestling officially begins.

One of the strongest senior classes in recent history — Andy Garcia (Pueblo East), Wesley VanMatre (John Mall), Dominick Serrano (Windsor), Isaiah Salazar (Windsor) and others — exits stage left. The contenders to replicate or surpass their success will enter stage right.

Who emerges atop the 2021 podium as the pound-for-pound best high school wrestler in Colorado?

Monarch’s Vince Cornella presents a strong case.

“We certainly think he is,” said Ezra Paddock, the longtime Monarch wrestling coach, when discussing his scrappy 126-pound junior’s place among the state’s top grapplers.

Moments after Cornella advanced to the Class 5A semifinals Friday by tech fall (16-1) over Rock Canyon’s Sammy Mobly, Cornella explained the mindset that backs up his claim to state wrestling supremacy.

No longer does Cornella seek to only beat opponents, because that’s a given. His focus is more specific.

“Technical perfection,” Cornella said.

The results speak for themselves. Cornella won the 106-pound state championship as a freshman, the 113-pound title as a sophomore, and is the runaway favorite to win it at 126 pounds on Saturday night. His dominance hit the national spotlight in January of last year when Cornella reached the Doc Buchanan Tournament finals in Fresno, Calif. — and college scholarship offers rolled in from Cornell, Minnesota, Northwestern and Stanford.

He committed in September to Cornell, the home of 11 individual national champions since 2010. But the Ivy League powerhouse, named oddly-similar to Cornella, can wait. He has a pair of state championships to win for the rare four-peat.

Cornella honed in on wrestling as his passion at about 10 years old and joined the Mile High Wrestling Club out of Broomfield. Cornella and current Monarch teammate Dillon Roman have trained together ever since. It was clear to Roman from the start that Cornella’s dedication and ability would eventually translate into greatness.

“He has a gas tank that nobody can match,” Roman said. “He just wears guys out. Once he gets a takedown, at that point, they’re probably not going to win. On top, if he doesn’t turn someone, he usually lets them up and then takes them down again, just to keep chipping away.”

Paddock welcomed Cornella to the Monarch program with knowledge of his talent. But it wasn’t until he witnessed Cornella’s off-mat preparation until he was truly sold on his potential. On Friday or Saturday nights, when fellow high-schoolers are up to no good, Cornella can be found watching tape of wrestlers he admires — studying each technical detail to copy for his own bag of tricks.

“It’s not lip service when he says he wants to try and get better every day,” Paddock said. “He was already very talented, but when you couple it with that passion, it’s exciting to watch him.”

However, Cornella’s path to a third consecutive 5A title match wasn’t a sure thing last summer. He underwent shoulder surgery with a six-month recovery timeline.

Cornella said it “was tough being off the mat for that long” as he watched from the sidelines of tournaments. The time off, though, did not slow Cornella down. He is 42-3 this season with zero losses against in-state competition.

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Watch just one period of Cornella inside Pepsi Center — with three tech falls en-route to Saturday night’s championship match against Pomona’s Jakob Romero — and it’s clear why Cornella is considered the favorite.

He dictates the pace.

“It’s not necessarily that I’m trying to pin this guy right off the bat,” Cornella said. “If there is something I’m trying to work on, I’m going to work toward that move. In that (quarterfinal) match, it was moving my feet and closing distance when guys are trying to evade.”

Run as they might, Cornella is on a crash course to becoming a Colorado high school wrestling legend.

“I’ll only have four opportunities to wrestle at the Pepsi Center,” Cornella said. “You’ve got to cherish the moment.”

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