Editor’s note: The following story from The Denver Post archive ran on Feb. 10, 2005, before Henry Cejudo was to compete in the Colorado state wrestling championships:
COLORADO SPRINGS — Henry Cejudo has been on the move his whole life. Living away from his family in Phoenix, the 18-year-old calls the Olympic Training Center and a wrestling mat home.
Cejudo, a junior at Coronado High School, figures to make himself comfortable when the Colorado wrestling tournament begins today, with championship matches at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night.
His aspirations and the mentoring of a former Olympic gold-medal winner could open doors around the world.
The nation’s top-ranked 119- pound high school wrestler, Cejudo was born in South Central Los Angeles and later moved with his mother and six siblings to Las Cruces, N.M., before landing in Phoenix.
He started wrestling in the fifth grade and two years later won his first national championship, both for USA Wrestling and FILA, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles. He won state titles in Arizona as a freshman and sophomore.
Inner-city Maryvale High School in Phoenix wasn’t much of an upgrade from South Central. Maryvale’s rough reputation included gangs, fights, shootings and a 65.9 percent graduation rate in 2002.
“Too much drama,” Cejudo said.
Attracting attention
After his sophomore year in 2004, Cejudo was noticed by Trish Saunders, then the women’s Olympic wrestling coach. She referred Cejudo to Terry Steiner, USA Wrestling women’s coach, who invited him to train with wrestler Patricia Miranda at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Steiner’s theory was Cejudo’s size and quickness would provide the type of challenge Miranda would face at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she went on to win a bronze medal in freestyle at 48 kilograms (105.5 pounds). Cejudo was invited, along with his brother Angel, to live and train at the Olympic facility.
Angel, a four-time high school champion in Arizona who compiled a 148-0 record, graduated from Maryvale in May 2004 and was trying to decide between wrestling for a junior college or staying in Phoenix “and doing nothing.”
The brothers decided to move to Colorado Springs.
“We love our family, but we had to do what was best for us,” Henry Cejudo said. “I wanted to try to get good grades so I can go to college. If I was still back there, I would really be struggling.
“I’ve actually picked up more love for my family being here. Now that I’m here, I know what love is about.”
Cejudo’s mother, Nelly Rico, and some of the family have made the trip to Colorado to watch him wrestle in the state tournament. Cejudo welcomed his mom with news that he had made the honor roll for the first time with a 3.0 grade-point average at Coronado.
When the tournament begins today, the Class 5A 119-pound bracket must go through Cejudo. He is 19-0 and No. 1 in the nation at that weight, according to multiple publications.
“I don’t want to be anything but No. 1. That’s my mentality,” Cejudo said after cruising through the Top of the Rockies tournament Jan. 23. “It’s always been my goal to be at the top of the mountain. I want to be able to tell my grandkids what I did.”
Cejudo is a five-time USA Wrestling and FILA national champion, and last year he was one of three wrestlers to win the freestyle and Greco-Roman titles, a feat he accomplished for the third time.
He and Angel grew up pushing each other’s limits. Everything was a competition.
“We would stare at each other and do squats until our legs fell off,” Angel said. “In our house, losing isn’t an option.”
Angel wanted to wrestle at Arizona State, but didn’t qualify academically. It was an easy decision when he got the chance to train at the Olympic center with his brother.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime situation,” Angel said.
USSR legend lends hand
The brothers train under USA Wrestling’s freestyle resident coach Sergei Beloglazov, a six-time world champion and gold medalist at the 1980 and 1988 Olympic Games for the Soviet Union. Beloglazov has coached the Russian and Japanese national teams and said he believes Cejudo is on pace to make the world team this summer.
“I think he is a very good prospect for USA Wrestling’s future,” Beloglazov said. “He is very good and very quick. He is really curious about technique and different styles, and that makes him so good. … I think it is a good step for him to go to international competition.”
Cejudo prefers freestyle, where he wrestles mostly from his feet. He is strong, fast, in peak fitness and training with some of the top instructors in the nation. The inquisitive nature Beloglazov speaks of, mixed with terrific drive, makes Cejudo No. 1 in the U.S.
“Anytime he tries something new, he trains at it nonstop until he can beat anybody,” said Tracy Greiff, a volunteer coach in Phoenix who started working with Cejudo in 2000. Greiff, who talks daily with Cejudo and is staying at the Olympic Training Center during the state tournament, beat Cejudo racing up a hill. Once.
After that, Cejudo ran the hill every day and never lost another race to the top. This week, Greiff and Cejudo challenged each other to train for a triathlon. Angel admits struggling to match his younger brother at times.
“He is so strong now, and so fast, it’s hard to beat him,” Angel said. As for the future, the brothers aspire to wrestle collegiately.
Still, Cejudo isn’t sure if he will be at Coronado next year. “You have to put a question mark next to that one,” Cejudo said, smiling.
” ‘Cejudo’ is going to be a big name in wrestling, just watch.”
Cejudo file
Coronado junior Henry Cejudo is among the favorites to win a championship when the Colorado state wrestling championships begin today, running through Saturday night at the Pepsi Center. Here’s a look at Cejudo’s accomplishments:
