As a matter of irrefutable fact, Tyler Graff is Darin Graff’s son.
But that doesn’t mean Darin has all the answers when it comes to explaining his eldest boy, a senior who is a three-time state wrestling champion at Loveland and is 18 going on 30 when it comes to the sport he loves.
It could be called a mystery, except it’s also kind of obvious to see how Tyler has become so successful, considering the endless training he puts in and the discipline he exudes.
But where exactly did all of Tyler’s innate drive come from?
“We haven’t figured it out,” said Darin, who says he was a so-so wrestler in his days at hompson Valley, from which he graduated in 1987. “He found something that he loves to do, and he’s willing to go through his pain and suffering — what we would call it — and the hard work that nobody likes, he seems to enjoy it. It’s not like work for him.”
Tyler’s labors, however, have been a sight to behold. Graff enters his final prep season with a 122-1 career record and is an overwhelming favorite to become the 15th four-time state champion in Colorado history.
Last season, he rolled through the Class 5A 130-pound state bracket with two pins and two technical falls, including a 17-2 victory over Air Academy junior Oliver Yaney in the final. He won the 119-pound title as a sophomore and 103 class his freshman year.
For an athlete who spent the summer competing in Venezuela at the Junior Pan-Am Games, was in China representing the U.S. with the Junior World Team and will attend Wisconsin next season, winning another high school title might seem humdrum.
“That is a goal I’ve always had,” Graff said of winning four titles. “Of course, my goals have been adjusted quite a bit over the past couple years.”
Competitors, listen up. Graff’s latest source of fire in his belly is Beijing. He wants to represent the U.S. at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and he aims to wrestle each foe with that in mind.
Graff wrestled in his first senior competition recently at the New York Athletic Club, where he faced a Russian national champion and other top competitors from the former Iron Curtain. Grappling with men in their mid-20s and early 30s, being around the pageantry and seeing wrestlers who are household heroes in their home countries just stoked Graff’s fire.
“He’s the full package,” Loveland coach James Sanchez said. “The thing with him is he has everything. He has the athleticism to do it, the commitment, the mental toughness; he has all the things that make a one-in-a-million athlete. That’s the only way he can be as good as he is. He has everything an athlete could ask for.”
The only thing that has eluded Graff is something he cannot change. Considering that Arvada West’s Kyle Sand remains the only undefeated Colorado four-timer, does it burn Graff to think about what could have been had he not lost that one match his freshman season?
“In a way I actually take it as a blessing because what it did is it made me realize a few things I had to work on,” Graff said. “I think it was a good thing at the time. It kind of made me think a little more, and it made me more motivated.”
Besides a fourth title and Beijing, Graff is also motivated by his Loveland teammates. Through Graff’s lead, the Indians are getting more wrestlers to dedicate more time to the sport, much to the delight of Sanchez.
Graff also cherishes his family time. His parents and two younger siblings remain his source of support and are the people he chooses to hang out with when he’s not wrestling, training to wrestle or thinking about training to wrestle.
“They’re the only ones allowed to pick on him,” Darin Graff said of Tyler’s sister, Felicia, 17, and brother, Patton, 10. “Them only.”
