The Boys Wrestling season finished strong as it came to a close. The season ended on Saturday, Feb. 18 with two state championships and one runner-up, and the team placing 7th, according to the team’s Twitter account.

Both Jake Glade (‘24) and Dalton Berg (‘24) placed first respectively in their weight classes, earning them the gold. Leister Bowling (‘25) finished second. 

Before winning his championship, Glade (‘24) told reporters from BoCo preps that his season did not start off as strong because he had a knee injury, but the injury encouraged him to work harder. 

Before the state championship, after placing first in regionals, Berg (‘24) said that though it felt good winning, his mind was on competing the following weekend. He didn’t know at the time that he would accomplish this goal and beat a top contender from Vista Ridge in Colorado Springs.

Wrestling is a tough and challenging sport. Wrestling has been a part of Mead High School since the school opened in 2009, with Girls Wrestling following over a decade later. PE teacher Ty Tatam has been the coach since the inaugural season.

This season, the boys’ team consists of 14 Varsity athletes and 28 JV athletes.

At multiple meets, family and friends could be heard cheering on the wrestlers as they competed and showed off what they have learned and accomplished during their season.

The team worked hard to stay in shape and improve.

An inability on the part of the athlete to “make the weight” disqualifies them from competition. 

Wrestlers are often hyper conscious of their weight because it determines who they compete with, sometimes even making a Varsity player compete against someone in JV, according to Mason Thompson (‘25), a new member of the wrestling team. 

It takes much commitment and consistency to keep one’s weight in their own category. Gage Duestch (‘23) said, “It requires discipline in all parts of your life. So, not just at practice, but also at home and on the weekends.”

Trey Tatham (‘26) said, “It’s tough sometimes, but you just have to watch what liquids to cut down [on].” 

Wrestling requires self discipline in order to monitor weight.

Wrestling means a good deal to these students for a variety of reasons, and they feel like others should try it out if they’re at all interested. Tatham (‘26) said, “You should definitely come out and try to do it.” 

Willie Eilers (’25) also said, “It’s tough, but I think it makes you a better person.”

Berg (‘24) shared his “favorite move is the slide-by,” a move where the competitor throws their opponent on the mat.

Berg (‘24) said, and other players agree, that, “As a team I think we’ve all [wrestled] really well.”

Tatham (‘26) added, “It’s definitely a tough sport to practice and everything when you have a pretty tough schedule, so just the mental aspect, but [wrestling] is definitely fun.”

To learn more about the wrestling team, you can visit their Twitter or Instagram.