Victory is the goal. Determination gets you there. Senior, Cole Hoffman represented Frederick High School at the Pepsi Center with the hopes of taking home a gold medal. “The most exciting part about this entire experience is being able to showcase my hard-work from the last thirteen years in front of thousands of people,” Hoffman stated. Reaching that ultimate goal is the final destination. For Cole Hoffman, the only thing that got him through his nerves and self-doubts was keeping his head down and pushing every second of the day, while keeping his mind set on the concluding goal. “At any point I could be wrestling my very last high school match, and that’s frightening.”

​As Cole Hoffman was the only wrestler from Frederick High School to make it to state, he reflected on how hard it was to see his teammates fall short. “I’ve made a family with all of those guys throughout the last couple years, and it broke my heart when I had to step away from them,” Hoffman expressed.

Cole Hoffman continued to fight his way through the first round after getting pinned five minutes into his first match. The wrestler was victorious in his second match, and pinned his opponent within the first three minutes. Cole successfully made his way through the second round by win by decision, a win in which Hoffman earned by simply having more points than his rival without receiving a fall or a technical fall.

In what was the third and final round of Cole’s time at state, he fell within the first two minutes. “I am definitely not satisfied in the least bit with the end result. I was looking for a placement but overall, I felt that I wrestled with all I had to give and left everything in that stadium,” Hoffman revealed. “I went into the tournament knowing that I had to make it to day three, not only for myself and my family, but for my coach.” After spending 13 years with coach, Joey Gardner, Hoffman felt the need to bring his coach’s time and effort justice by advancing to day three.

Not only was journey to state an amazing experience, Cole Hoffman learned a very important life lesson. There is always someone bigger and better, and you have to find a balance between being humble and hungry. “Never leave yourself with the feeling that you have something more to give,” Cole Hoffman expressed.