Last Friday night, the Greeley West Wrestling team had their cross-town rivalry dual and won against the Greeley Central Wildcats. For many of the boys, especially the seniors, this was a huge accomplishment even though they’ve beat them before. 

For some seniors, this dual was exhilarating but also a very reflective moment. Max Castellenos, a senior who wrestled all four years, was torn, “it’s a sad feeling because this is my last ever Central match up, but wrestling has taught me so much.” 

Castellenos went on to say, “This program has shown me how to not give up no matter how hard the task at hand is, and that, in my opinion, is a valuable lesson to take with me.” 

On top of Castellenos’ touching statement about his last Central dual, he also was able to feel sentimental about it as he was the 2026 Wrestling MVP. He continued, “This was the most emotional match I’ve ever had, as getting to actually be the MVP after watching so many of my peers before get it, was such an amazing experience” 

This match continued to bring up many emotions. Senior, Tagen Becher feels as though this brought him a new obstacle in his match, “It felt as though there was a weight on my shoulders, which is why I think I wrestled poorly, pressure can be hard to overcome in these kinds of situations” Becher said. 

He continued, “but this win over Central meant the world to me, especially when it was so close last year, it was nice beating them by a big margin this year” 

Wrestling has brought many of the boys lots of joy and they take a lot of pride in the program. Leon Delafuente, another senior, was proud but sad to walk out of his last ever West-Central match knowing this. “It’s such a sad feeling knowing these past four years had flown by so fast, but to walk out knowing we’ve worked so hard to have beat Central all four years, is truly incredible and a great memory to take with me.” He said.