Berthoud – They were there in spirit.
Instead of team captain Tyler Carron, a 135-pounder, and Nikko Landeros (189) occupying their usual seats at the edge of the Berthoud High School wrestling mat in a dual meet Thursday night against Northridge, their chairs contained individual action shots as tributes by their teammates, classmates, coaches, administrators and a community that want no more heartaches for their teenagers.
Never mind Northridge won 54-25. This was a gathering for everyone, including Carron and Landeros, who both lost two legs below the knee in an automobile accident. Last week, they were pinned between two sport-utility vehicles in what amounts to a bizarre story.
In the dark, Landeros and Carron were attempting to change a flat tire on a rural road when they were hit from behind. They had just called a friend to bring a jack. The driver of the vehicle that hit them also was a Berthoud student. The first persons on the scene of the accident were other Berthoud students.
And it all occurred less than a mile from school.
“It has been tough,” Spartans wrestling coach Scott Pickert said. “This was for Tyler and Nikko and the kids on the team, their families … We’re just going day by day.”
In the team’s first action since the accident, the outpouring of support toward Berthoud continues to come from across Colorado, so much so that the school will declare a moratorium next week on all fundraising.
“There has just been so much of it that we can’t handle it,” Berthoud athletic director Fred Dreier said. “We can’t handle all of it, and I’m sure there are many things going on right now that we don’t even know about.”
From spaghetti dinners to phone-a-thons to teams offering their gate money to flowers to financial contributions to accounts set up throughout the state to a sports psychologist from Windsor donating his time to the wrestling team to a contractor volunteering time, tools, materials and labor to make the Carron and Landeros homes more accessible for the two young men.
“It has been amazing,” Dreier said.
Joyce Wilson agreed. A 1949 graduate of Loveland High School who has resided in Berthoud since the 1950s, Wilson and her husband have been a member of the local Lions Club for years.
Taking tickets at the door for Thursday night’s match as she usually does, she dutifully told fans about the upcoming dinner to raise funds and joined others in wondering why the area’s young people have been experiencing so much grief.
Berthoud officials recalled 10 deaths from traffic accidents in the past decade, in addition to the incident with Carron and Landeros.
“At least, they still have their lives,” Wilson said. “But we’ve had enough of this.”
Said Lisa Lyman, a cheerleader: “I’m trying as hard as I can. I’ve known Tyler since we were 8 years old and Nikko since the eighth grade. The first day was really, really hard and this, the first match, was tough because they’re supposed to be here with us. But they’re not. But we get reports every day. We hope to see them in a little while.”
Sophomore Graeden Sadlo earned the Spartans’ first victory since the accident with a 3-1 decision at 119 pounds Thursday, and said he and his teammates are getting some much-needed relief: “This felt good. We were really psyched for it. It gave us a chance to get our anger out.
“We’re doing all right. We’re working hard in practice and trying to get the whole situation out of our head.”
All they can do, Pickert said, “is continue on and finish out the season for Tyler and Nikko.”
Staff writer Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
