Broomfield wrestler Ryan Vigil, 11, won a long-awaited state championship last Saturday at the annual CHSAA state wrestling tournament, becoming the latest member of an elite group of Eagle wrestlers to win state titles.
Vigil entered the tournament as the number two seed in the 138-pound bracket, boasting an impressive 22-1 record, and coming off an impressive win over Erie’s Rudy Lopez, the defending state champion, in the regional finals.
After pinning his way to the state finals, Vigil found himself pitted against Lopez for a second time, and once again dominated his way to a 3-0 victory and a highly sought-after state title.

“It feels amazing,” Vigil said. “It’s something I have wanted to do my whole life.”
Vigil’s confidence was soaring heading into his finals bout against Lopez, especially since he knew he could win after beating him handily at regionals.
“My confidence was high at regionals, but even more confident going into the finals.” Vigil said. “My gameplan was just to take him down and hold him down. Nobody has escaped from me the whole season, so I knew I could win.”
Vigil’s dream of winning a state title for Broomfield was almost eradicated in January, when BVSD elected to not participate in wrestling due to Covid-19 complications. Wrestlers in BVSD would have had the option to compete for a school in a neighboring district, before BVSD reopened the wrestling season.
“If we wouldn’t have had a season, I would’ve gone to a different school,” Vigil said. “It was really big for me to win a title for Broomfield, instead of having to go somewhere else and win.”
Alongside Vigil, teammate Morgan Watt, 11, fought his way to the finals in the 220-pound division, finishing as a runner-up.
As a team, Broomfield finished 11th in the class 4A state championship, with Vigil and Watt being the only wrestlers from Broomfield that qualified.
Cheyenne Mountain took home the 4A state team title, marking the first time they had done so in school history.