Auston Eudaly, Arvada West sophomore, lives and breathes wrestling. His life revolves around his love for the mat, and it’s been that way for as long as he can remember.

Likewise to most, passion begins in the early days of life. Eudaly has a similar story when it comes to his love for wrestling. His days on the mat began early on: “It started off with my dad getting me into wrestling when I was around 4 or 5. I started with the Arvada West Youth program, because my dad wrestled here when he was in high school. That really gave me the goal to continue his legacy.`”

When he started high school, Eudaly had nerves like any freshman entering a world of the unknown. In his mind he had some self doubts about his abilities, so he describes, “I was excited, but I was pretty nervous at the same time. I did not really know how I would compare in skill levels with the other kids.”

However, from the moment Eudaly joined the wrestling team at A-West,  there hasn’t been one doubt from his coaches. One assistant coach of Arvada West’s wrestling team, Robby Blair says, “When Auston first came to Arvada West, his nickname became Simba… because we knew he was going to be awesome. I knew that he was going to be that guy that came in, took over the team.”

Despite his initial uncertainty in himself, and his nerves about starting in freshman year, Eudaly has managed to disprove his notions about his capability, throughout his ongoing high school career. Only a sophomore, Eudaly has made it to state wrestling twice, and he placed third at Colorado State Wrestling for the 2022-2023 season. 

Discussing his journey to state twice, he says “I don’t know how to explain it, but I almost had this pressure that I needed to make it again. Once I did, I was set. I went out there and just did my best.”

Similarly to the 2022 – 2023 seasons’ state competitions, the 2021-2022 state competition took place at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado during mid-February in 2022.  While Eudaly did qualify for state, he did not place hen.

Eudaly not placing in state during what had been the previous season at the time, contributed to his rationale for him to put in more work, in hopes of fulfilling his ambitions. “This year, my mindset was a lot different than last year. This year, I feel like it was more to put it all out, practice, and give it 100%. That’s what is going to get me better. Lifting and going to the gym a lot helped me, but it was mostly just a mental change.”

 Once the news broke that Eudaly was heading to state for the second time, his teammates buzzed with excitement for him as Eduay puts it that “…They were pretty excited.” 

From this point onwards, the real work and effort had been sparked, so he could perform his best at State. His coaches were a signifigant part of practing and polishing the fine details, so Eudlay could succeed in his performance. Eudaly explains, “We’re really studying up on any kids who I would have to wrestle. So, I would really study what my coach had shown me to practice to beat those kids. I was staying calm, staying aggressive, and not getting too overwhelmed. When I’m wrestling I’m just in a zone. It’s not like I’m thinking that much.”

 Adrian Green, Varsity Head Coach of the Arvada West wrestling team adds more detail  about Eudaly’s  diligence and commitment to his practice, by saying, “Auston puts in extra work and seeks out help from as many coaches as he can. That’s what makes champions.”

Once he was placed third in state, it was clear that all the practice was worth it. Eudaly recalls his feelings at that moment, “It was awesome I don’t know how to explain it. The last match I had won, took me to third. I was really excited. It is like a whole new level of energy I had. I walked off the mat, and I was running through the halls, like I could wrestle a whole other match. It was really exciting!”

 Green emulates Edualy’s excitment, saying, “Auston has a lot of experience in wrestling and he stays pretty cool in most situations.  I did enjoy watching him on Saturday at State as he did increase his energy which was exciting!”

There have been strong relationships built amongst the teammates on the wrestling team. Eudlay, has numerous support systems that have helped him throughout his journey, but his relationship with his team has been a part of his success t, saying “As a team, we’re a family basically. We don’t really have much drama. Our coaches are a big part of that,” he notes.

Expanding further on the team’s relationship with one another, Blair says, “ …I think that this is one of the best groups we ever have had. I think we as a whole, really enjoyed each other’s company. I know that we spend a lot of time with each other just at meets and practice ,and off season workouts. They were just always there supporting each other.” 

He continues to detail the dynamic between the boys, and comments, “There wasn’t really anybody that was like ‘I’m better than you’. It was more like ‘Hey, we are a team, and we’re going to get better together and we’re going to work  hard to get there.’ “

In the future, Eudaly hopes to  turn his passion into his professional career. He plans on going to college for wrestling, so he can launch himself into the professional field. He says,” I definitely want to try to go to college for wrestling… My dream school to go to is Nebraska or Arizona State. That would be awesome to go to!. Honestly any NCAA college would be the goal.”

Clearly shown through his dedication to wrestling his whole life, and especially throughout his highschool career, it is evident that one of Eudaly’s biggest dreams is to be Colorado’s state champion. Coach Green has belief in this dream. He puts it simply, by saying, ”I know Auston will be a State Champion.”

 Next year, Eudaly will be going into his junior year at Arvada West. He has big goals, along with outlined actions for the future, so he can prepare for his next moves as a member of the Arvada West Wrestling team. He describes his plans, reflects on his performance at State in 2023, and demonstrates what his coaches have observed about his work ethic, “ My biggest goal is to win state. I knew I could have done it this year. I’m not mad about it because I gave my all. That’s my goal for next year, to go hard during this off-season and during the season too.  I’m going to leave it all out there.”

Glimpsing  into next season  Green further institutes his belief in Eudaly and the Arvada West team as a whole, “We are going to have a very good team next season. We built a solid foundation this season and I plan on many of the wrestlers working hard this summer. So the sky’s the limit for us and expect to see more A-West wrestlers on the State podium next year.”