Before Oscar Fonseca arrived at Jefferson High School, the championship walls in their wrestling room were barren.
The Saints had yet to win a single state title. Calling the program 'wayward' was probably kind.
Fonseca attended JHS and after wrestling at the University of Northern Colorado decided to pour himself back into his alma mater.
"We just provide that rock to our kids," says Fonseca, now the head wrestling coach. "They know what to expect from us."
Fonseca didn't even want to be the head coach, but when the opportunity arose he took it; now, 19 years later, the Saints have won 17 state titles and - more importantly - become a pillar in their community.
"We weren't very well known before we took over as a coaching staff," says Fonseca. "We're very well respected [now] within the school. We respect people and have a lot of perseverance."
More than what he's built on the mat, Coach Fonseca has found a way to connect with every young person that walks into his life.
"He wants us to be good, he wants us to do better in life," says Isaiah Gallegos, a senior wrestler for the Saints. "He checks up on us at school to see if we're getting our work done. The way he builds his program, he has a very specific standard. I've always looked up to that standard and I keep grinding through it. It's a daily life thing now."
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"You have to wrestle with your homework, wrestle with your math," says JHS assistant coach James Vogel, who's been by Fonseca's side for more than two decades. "You have to wrestle all of those things to get good at them. When you know how to wrestle [on the mat] you can wrestle all of that other stuff."
Coach Fonseca doesn't measure his success based on how many state title banners the Saints now have adorning their wall in the wrestling room - every kid he sends out into the world ready to contribute is a win.
"We just showed somebody else how to give back [to the community]," says Fonseca, "I love watching our kids make an impact in people's lives."
Fonseca adds that internet rumors about Jefferson High School closing and the wrestling team being shut down are "totally false."
He plans to be in the heart of Edgewater teaching kids for a long time.
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