When Dayspring Christian Academy's athletic director Logan Vander Stelt asked Todd Welch why Dayspring didn't have a wrestling program, Welch truly couldn't believe his ears.
It's the same question Welch had asked numerous Eagles administrators countless times the past couple of decades.
But there was something about the way Vander Stelt posed that question a little more than a year ago, while Welch was serving as an assistant coach during a Dayspring football practice.
Vander Stelt wasn't asking just out of casual curiosity.
Rather, there was something in Vander Stelt's tone that suggested this was a question he felt no one should need to ask in the first place.
And if Vander Stelt was searching for an ally to help the Eagles launch a wrestling program that has made sense for all too long, he couldn't have sought a better ally than Welch.
Welch had spent much of the past 21 years asking others why Dayspring doesn't have a wrestling program.
"I came onto the Dayspring football staff in '97," Welch said. "Then, I came on to the teaching staff in '99. So, in '99, I went to the administration and said, 'I'm a certified wrestling coach. You don't have a wrestling program.' And the superintendent shot it down, hard and quick."
GREELEY, CO - DECEMBER 15:Freshmen Landen Beauvais, left, and Joey Corliss, right, grapple with each other during the Dayspring Christian Eagles wrestling practice at Dayspring Christian Academy in Greeley Dec. 15, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
Welch didn't stop there, though.
"I took it to the administration three additional times," he said. "And the last time — this time — we finally got approval."
A Dayspring Christian wrestling program that has long been a pipe dream of Welch's — and other proponents of the sport within the Eagles' tight-knit community — is finally a reality. Naturally, Welch is the head coach.
Dayspring launched its program this winter, and it already has 13 wrestlers: five freshmen, four seniors and four juniors. It competes at the Class 2A level.
While asking previous administrators why the Eagles don't host wrestling, Welch had been met with everything from no real reason at all to concerns over finances or claims a wrestling program would dig too much into the participation numbers of the school's basketball program.
So, after years and years of failed attempts, one could hardly blame Welch if he had all but pushed the idea out the back of his mind when Vander Stelt unexpectedly suggested adding a wrestling program during football practice just more than a year ago.
"We finally had the right combination of a supportive executive director (Weston Kurz) and a brand new athletic director," Welch said. "We finally got the right combo of the two."
GREELEY, CO - DECEMBER 15:Head coach Todd Welch, right, directs freshman Landen Beauvais, center, as he grapples with freshman Joey Corliss, bottom, during the Dayspring Christian Eagles wrestling practice at Dayspring Christian Academy in Greeley Dec. 15, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
After Welch, Vander Stelt, and company, decided to move forward with a wrestling program, they spent the past year laying the groundwork by proving there was interest in the sport within the school.
They then reached out to the Dayspring community to raise about $18,000 for equipment and uniforms.
When it came time to put together a team in recent months, Eagles wrestling was already rolling with plenty of momentum — well before that first competitor had even stepped on the mat.
After 20-plus years of seemingly no progress at all, the entire concept of Dayspring wrestling has gained traction with remarkable speed and success over the past year.
News of the Eagles launching their very own program was music to the ears of Connor Clark, a Dayspring student who had spent the past three years wrestling for nearby Greeley West.
"We kind of have that small-town feel here (at Dayspring), with it being a real small school," said Clark, a senior 170-pounder. "Seeing the program get off the ground is real sweet."
GREELEY, CO - DECEMBER 15:Senior Connor Clark practices alongside his teammates during the Dayspring Christian Eagles wrestling practice at Dayspring Christian Academy in Greeley Dec. 15, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
Eleven of the 13 wrestlers on the team are also football players.
Dayspring has long been one of the top small-school football programs in the state, collecting three 1A 8-man gridiron titles over the past 13 years.
There aren't many sports at the high school level that complement each other as well as football and wrestling.
"People often refer to tackling when you mix wrestling and football," senior 152-pounder Jacob Martin said. "All you learn about leverage, momentum and just using someone else's weight against them or their balance against them helps a lot when you cross (the sports) over."
And considering just about every member of Dayspring's wrestling team was also a member of the football team, there is a certain chemistry, familiarity and camaraderie among this upstart wrestling program — even though so much about the program is otherwise new.
Like many members of the team, senior 182-pounder Cody Daharsh had never wrestled before this winter. Nonetheless, he didn't hesitate to come out for the team this season and claim his spot on this historic, inaugural Dayspring wrestling roster.
GREELEY, CO - DECEMBER 15:Senior Jacob Martin, center, practices with his teammates during the Dayspring Christian Eagles wrestling practice at Dayspring Christian Academy in Greeley Dec. 15, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
"Just talking about it with coach (Welch), I thought it would be a good thing for Dayspring to build through the football program and add on to culture around the sports here," Daharsh said. "And I'm just excited to hang out with the football guys for a little bit longer."
Even though the wrestling program has been together for just a few weeks, Daharsh and his teammates have wasted no time meshing together as a true, unified team.
No doubt, it helps they come from such a small, intimate school of just about 90 high school students. It always helps that almost the entire roster wrapped up its three-month football season just more than a month ago.
But these 13 wrestlers are also energized and united by the fact they're doing something no Dayspring Christian athletes have done before. The mentality and personality they create within the program this winter could set the tone for years to come.
"We just have a bunch of like-minded guys that are really pushing each other," senior 160-pounder Ethan Bonnell said. "Hopefully, for some of these younger guys, we're building a culture — a family-type of culture that we can really grow with."
GREELEY, CO - DECEMBER 15:Junior Landen Bonnell, left, and senior Connor Clark, right, practice alongside their teammates during the Dayspring Christian Eagles wrestling practice at Dayspring Christian Academy in Greeley Dec. 15, 2021. (Alex McIntyre/Staff Photographer)
In addition to a sizable, dedicated inaugural roster, Welch also has a large coaching staff that includes Dan Clark, former Valley High School state champions and University of Northern Colorado wrestlers Josh and Macoy Flanagan and their father Dan Flanagan.
Though Welch, his staff and his roster have plenty of work ahead of them if they're going to ultimately collect hardware the way the football team does, the goal, for now, is simply to lay the foundation for an athletic program Dayspring will support for years to come.
"When you start a program, you think, 'This is my dream, but does anybody else want to be a part of it? Does anybody else share that same passion?'" Welch said. "The overall goal is to help Dayspring fall in love with the sport of wrestling. The school is going to fall in love as these boys fall in love. And once this is a passion, everything else falls in place."
Bobby Fernandez covers high school sports for the Greeley Tribune. Reach him at (970) 392-4478, by email at bfernandez@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @BobbyDFernandez.
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