Music, pace, stretch. The same routine followed before every match, every win, every loss. A routine shared between two wrestlers who hit the milestone of 100 wins in their junior years, JR Ortega and Leland Day. Music, pace, stretch, repeat.

“I feel pretty good, pretty confident.
It just displays all my hard work,” Ortega (11) said. “And now that I’m in my junior year, and I’m able to reach 100 wins, I’m glad to be able to find that accomplishment.”

Both JR Ortega and Leland Day use this achievement as a milestone and just the beginning of their careers in winning Nationals. 

“Not giving up, not quitting [helped me win]. I lost a lot in my freshman year, but I feel like you gotta keep going,” Leland Day (11) said. 

By giving the time and effort to overcome their individual obstacles, the coaches do their best they can so that their players will be in the best conditions. 

“My head coach here at Grandview sometimes prepares lunches for us to make sure that we’re well fed and to make sure we’re eating healthy,” Ortega said. “That just proves right there that they have the dedication.” 

The dedication from both the coach and the athlete helped them reach 100 wins.  While winning can build confidence and set higher goals, not every champion achieves their goals without experiencing failures and losses. 

“When you take a loss, you still have to bounce back, and I think it looks like an opportunity to get better,” Ortega said. “There’s always gonna be somebody better than you.”

Last year, Ortega lost in the Top of the Rockies tournament finals, and it was something that stuck with him, but knowing all of the hard work that he put in, it would all pay off at some point. Early this season, Ortega got a chance to wrestle the same opponent, Drake VomBaur from Severence, CO (11), and succeeded in beating him (4-3).

“After a loss, the Sun’s gonna come up the next morning, I’m just gonna move on, a lot more opportunities to do what you want will come,” Day said. 

Both athletes change their perspective of a loss to a more positive side and to higher goals. With Ortega winning the state championship in February 2025, he looks forward to his next goals. 

“I want to reach the win record for all time at Grandview,” Ortega said. “I want to make that step to the national level.”