Keeler: When Colorado wrestling team suffered crash in Lakewood, three towns opened hearts, wallets: ‘The community is special.’

A wrestling coach is the smartest person in the room until his wife walks in So before Cutter Garrison floated an idea to his boss he ran it by Terrica his better half at the dinner table What if we just gave the money to Central The headline At least injured in Lakewood crash involving school bus plunged like a rusty dagger Each sentence they read twisted the blade More than a dozen novice athletes from Grand Junction and two coaches were injured Saturday in a Lakewood crash involving their bus according to the school district All students were members of the Central High School wrestling squad in Grand Junction traveling back from a tournament in the Denver area We kind of kept hearing the severity of it Garrison recalled After talking to Central wrestling coach Clint Trujillo on Sunday night Garrison needed to do something Anything Cutter s Cedaredge Bruins wrestling activity was slated to host Buena Vista and Meeker in a tri-meet this past Thursday The event included a paid soup dinner and barbecue with proceeds going back to the Bruins wrestling plan Then it hit him What if we just gave the money to Central Terrica nodded A leader of young men demands to participate in that Mrs Garrison explained You should do this Related Articles Keeler Broncos remind ex-Denver RB C J Anderson of Super Bowl champs right down to disrespect Renck vs Keeler Is Broncos underdog status at home vs Packers ultimate sign of disrespect Keeler Think Broncos are NFL playoff frauds Not when Sean Payton calls championship like he did vs Raiders Grading The Week Deion Sanders hire of Brennan Marion as CU Buffs OC reminds us of Sean Lewis That s a good thing Keeler Broncos fan asking Sean Payton Bo Nix not to give him second heart attack vs lousy Raiders So they did Garrison Cedaredge s wrestling coach ran it up the chain to his athletic director Brandon Milholland What if we just gave the money to Central I think we should use this as an opportunity to show grace the coach explained And keep Central in our thoughts and prayers Milholland agreed Garrison went to peers Jared Todd Buena Vista s wrestling coach and Stryker Lane the head coach at Meeker to get them on board What if we just gave the money to Central Let s do it Todd noted Let s do it Lane replied Which is how a little tri with Cedaredge Buena Vista and Meeker got a big heart How three wrestling communities became CentralStrong It s an central life lesson Dark chilly Front Range night Strange unfamiliar streets Garrison had been there Todd and Lane had too Wrestlers look after their own A bond built over early mornings sleepless nights title and thankless winding roads that can go on forever Especially in the dead of winter On Dec before the crash Trujillo s Warriors had been competing at Arapahoe High School in Centennial According to Lakewood police the Central bus was attempting a left turn when it was struck by an SUV moving at a very high rate of speed The driver of the SUV a -year-old Denver man was arrested on Dec per Lakewood police who presumed that speed played a major role in the case Administration stated via social media Friday that several casualties including band members remain hospitalized A campaign to raise money for the wrestling project on GoFundMe com launched by Central High principal Zeb Hayward had received roughly in donations as of early Friday evening We ve just preached being grateful and being thankful for the opportunity to compete on the mats Garrison stated I think it s an fundamental life lesson to teach kids to give back Invariably the same mud Wrestlers parents brought soups Buena Vista brought a check So did Meeker s wrestling club Authorities working the event agreed to donate their pay to the CentralStrong pool Garrison disclosed they raised about That s what it s all about commented Todd who s been coaching the Demons for almost three decades It takes a back seat to the wins and the losses It s really about giving back It might be different blood but it s inevitably the same mud Same paths Same goals Same dreams Garrison had known Trujillo a Grand Junction native for years through tournaments coaching clinics and summer camps Just a guy you could talk to Garrison mentioned about just what it takes to build a good organization and a good effort A gift of may seem like a drop in the bucket But wrestling coaches and moms know how to squeeze half a dollar out of every nickel That is about of the Cedaredge High School s wrestling budget Garrison revealed he typically piles up expenses of roughly - over a given season and that the school district usually chips in for about of that It takes an awful lot of soup and brisket to get a squad from fall to February Ordinarily Thursday might ve netted about for the Bruins They just gave the money to Central instead It s not a lot Garrison stated But it s something to let them know that we re thinking of them and have each others backs It s a tight group of coaches and athletes It s more of a locality than a sport The group is special And CentralStrong will go on The Grand Junction school will hold its Warrior Classic on Friday and Saturday as scheduled even though Trujillo admitted that canceling the event crossed our minds That s just the dedication that Central has that Meeker has that Buena Vista has that we just try to do at Cedaredge what s best for the kids and the sport Garrison mentioned You lose track as coaches how plenty of times my assistants have driven so countless buses and sacrificed time and things like that We knew there was an additional something that we thought we could do to recognize the bigger picture that every coach preaches in sports At this time of year the best gifts aren t about the size of the box They re about the size of the person who gave it It s an awesome group of people in general Trujillo explained The locality is special To the last May the angel who answers your prayer have been a wrestler in another life Or better yet married to one Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams