Boys Wrestling: Fowler’s Traven Sharon Becomes 33rd Four-Time State Champion
By Damon Cook/CHSAANow.com
Photo: Rawaa Zardy
DENVER – Fowler’s Traven Sharon stood in the tunnel waiting to walk in the parade of champions one final time in Ball Arena. As he walked out, he took in the atmosphere.
He saw the sea of fans that filled the arena, so many of which were staring directly at him, accompanied by the screams and cheers that nearly drowned out the sounds of the cameras shuttering, most focused on him.
As he walked around each mat the colors flashed before his eyes. Yellow, then purple, orange, grey, red and purple again, before he arrived at the black mat donning a green circle with a giant M in the middle. He stopped and stared off into the distance, knowing that each time he thought back to this moment, that mat would be burned into his memory.
Sharon faced a paradox of sorts as he walked out of that tunnel alongside his fellow hopeful victors. While each stride was accompanied by 84 other wrestlers looking to make their own history, Sharon stood alone as the single wrestler looking to join the 33 four-time state champions that came before him in boys wrestling.
“If somebody told me I was going to be able to do this, I don’t think I would believe this, I would call them a liar,” Sharon said following his historic victory. “There’s been some divine intervention along the way, that’s for sure. It’s surreal to be able to live in this moment.”
The moments leading up to the final match of his career didn’t present any pressure for Sharon. The back-and-forth pacing wasn’t nervous energy, but more of a prowl.
Soon the clock began to tick, but not for long… three minutes and 51 seconds to be exact. That’s how long it took Sharon to pin Meeker sophomore Koy Weber.
“The match was pretty wild,” Sharon said. ” Without pressure, I guess the emotions don’t really explode.”
When athletes achieve feats that are as rare as becoming a four-time state champion, people often talk about dedication and IQ before they talk about physical dominance.
While Sharon certainly showcased physical dominance, true to the tale, that wasn’t what his coaches mentioned when talking about how he arrived at this moment.
“I’ve never met a kid that is so locked in,” Fowler assistant coach Jackson Donnell said. “He wins every spring in practice, he works out in the mornings. Winning comes at a price and it’s not a monetary price, but man he’s paid for it since he started coming into our room as a manager. The amount of work he is willing to put in to achieve his goals is amazing.”
Those words were echoed by Fowler head coach Grady Grissom, who has coached for the Grizzlies for almost 30 years. Despite nearly three decades at the helm, Grissom has never had the chance to coach a four-time champion, much less someone of Sharon’s caliber.
“There’s very few individuals like Traven Sharon,” Grissom said. “Everything you put in front of him, he gobbles up. On the mat he goes into a mental state where he reads three plays ahead of what is happening, and that doesn’t happen very often.”
Sharon’s dream to become one of the greats wasn’t something he was born into. Wrestling often can be a legacy sport.
Neither of Sharon’s parents wrestled beyond the middle school level, but it was his father who he credited as getting him into the sport. As Sharon put it, his father knew he wasn’t going to play basketball.
“I never thought I’d have the chance to become a four-time champion,” Sharon said. “When I won my freshman year, it became a dream and having the opportunity to chase that dream to this point has been an amazing experience.”
When Sharon walked back through the same tunnel where he began his night, those same mat colors faded. This time green first, then yellow, purple, orange, grey and red.
As the doors creeped shut on his illustrious career, Sharon took in the atmosphere as the entire arena cheered realizing that they had just witnessed one of the greatest to ever step foot on a mat.
