SIDLINE

know me, they know my personality, and they know what my expectations are. We just need to get disciplined at the core. It’s the same thing my dad always taught me: basics and conditioning.”

He’s been with Adams County School District 14 for more than a decade

Before he was the most revered 5A wrestling coach in the state, Deaguero was a student mentor. He’s served as a student engagement coordinator at Lester Arnold High School in Commerce City for more than 10 years, and he’ll continue that role as well as coaching both wrestling and football at Adams City.

Retired Veteran George Marshall Eastman was the Grand Marshall for 2023’s parade, leading from the passenger seat of a Jeep. Eastman was a decorated Air Force pilot who retired in 1991 with the rank of Major and a chestful of medals — the Silver Star, two Meritorious Service Medals, 11 Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, a Distinguished Presidential Unit Citation, four Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, and Vietnamese Air Force Wings.

He said he enjoys the process of getting students involved with extracurriculars to better prepare them for all aspects of life.

“Getting kids out, keeping them engaged, and having fun as well (is important),” he said. “Even with the wrestling team, we play a lot of games to warm up with. We have a lot of fun. We play games, we play dodgeball, we do stu like that. It’s important for them.”

Deaguero is a hall-of-fame college wrestler is month, Deaguero was informed he’s the latest inductee into the Adams State University Athletics Hall of Fame. At his alma mater in Alamosa, he was a two-time AllAmerican, as well as snagging the same title for Northern Colorado University in 2003, according to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame website.

Deaguero also helped land the NCAA Division II national title for Adams State in 2008.

He’s a goal-oriented coach e goal for year one is to reset the culture, add toughness, and practice conditioning and discipline.

“I already told them, we’ve just got to be tougher. We’re not going to have 100 kids out, unless by a miracle something changes,” Deaguero said. “By the end of last year, we were down to like 20 kids on the team … It’s just toughness. at’s something we’ve got to change, and they know it.”

“We just did the end of our veweek spring camp last week. It was a lot of running and conditioning; a lot of things they weren’t prepared for I don’t think. ey were dying and laying down on the track, it was kind of funny,” he said.

Deaguero believes in a ‘Commerce City toughness’, and expects it of his team

Deaguero said he knows that a lot of the youth in Commerce City have no choice but to grow up tough. at’s a harnessable trait the football team can use to turn more losses into wins on the record by the end of the season.

“Just that grit, what I call the Commerce City toughness,” he said. “A lot of our kids in Commerce City have to grow up a little bit tougher and thicker-skinned. With the kind of socio-economics that we deal with for a lot of our athletes, they have the toughness and the grit. It just needs to be focused the right way with conditioning and strength, and all that.”