Understanding the dynamic of the Buena Vista boys wrestling team is like getting caught in the middle of a family squabble.
Four of them actually.
But it’s understandable considering how the Demons are constructed. The bus heading to Ball Arena this week will consist of four pairs of sibling who will all take the wrestling mats in search of state titles.
Teigan and David Arellano, Caleb and Haden Camp, Abel and Eli Flowers and Tucker and Colton Montoya all made their way through the Class 2A Region 3 tournament to qualify for state, making the weekend a true family affair for the Buena Vista team.
And while the goals of all eight boys is success this weekend, they can certainly bicker with each other like all eight of them are related.
When asked which pair of siblings would emerge victorious in a wrestling match, each set of brothers is confident in the answer, even if there are four different answers that come out.
“We’re dominating,” Eli Flowers says.
“What’s Abel going to do, bite my ankles,” Caleb Camp yells in the background.
Laughter ensues, but the argument continues.
This is the lighthearted nature that was earned after the Demons put together a regional team victory in La Junta last weekend. The Camp brothers were the only sibling duo to come away with regional titles in their respective weight classes. David Arellano also won a regional title, pinning Monte Vista’s Jeremiah Baumgardner in the second period in the championship match of the 157-pound bracket.
Abel Flowers won the 144-pound title with a third-period pin of Sargent’s Garett Thomson. A self-described “oddball,” Abel participates in the time-honored sporting tradition of talking trash. And often times, it’s directed at big brother Eli. It’s in the good spirit of taking digs at his older brother, but it also serves as a competitive tool that often time leads to Eli getting decisive wins on the mat.
“I’ll always give him [grief],” Abel said. “I’ll say, ‘Hey, did you see my win? I bet you can’t do the same thing. Prove me wrong.’ I try to give him that push to try and pin his kid faster. Sometimes it’ll backfire on me because he’ll do something better than me and use it against me.”
But it’s all in the spirit of pushing each other to better.
That’s the common theme with each set of brothers. At home they battle like bitter rivals. On the mats, they’re bonded together by a common goal and it’s not to make sure that the house is cleaned up before their parents get home.
“We don’t get along [as brothers] as much as we do as teammates,” David Arellano said. “As teammates we like to keep [our] brotherhood out of it for the most part.”
Brothers battle with each other. Teammates battle for each other. The mindful awareness of that relationship is a big reason that Buena Vista claimed the regional championship as a team all while embracing the athletic department’s culture of character development.
But as the tournament got into the later rounds, each brother kept advancing and inching close to at least a third-place match, which guaranteed a spot at Ball Arena.
“It was really cool,” Colton Montoya said. “I won my semis match and I started looking around and watching everyone’s match. I realized all the brothers were about to make it. That’s insane. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that no one really gets to have. That’s what makes it special. I don’t think it came across anyone’s mind until it actually happened.”
And now they get to practice and train to experience that environment as a family. And because there are four sets of siblings heading there, it very much feels like a family. And like brothers normally do, the older ones tend to play the seniority card. It’s only natural.
“The older brothers always pick on us,” Abel Flowers said. “They tell us that they’re still older than us so they get the better seat on the bus. Stuff like that.”
But when the whistles blow on Thursday and the matches start, everyone will be on the same page. Win and root for the others. It’ll be emotional for the Arellano and Camp siblings as David and Haden are seniors competing in their last tournaments.
For Haden, it’s especially emotional after missing last season with an injury. It’s for that reason that younger brother Caleb would choose Haden if only one of them could win state.
“It’s his last shot and he couldn’t do it last year,” Caleb said. “The amount of work he’s put in, the amount of success he would have had… he’s worked so hard to get to this. I believe he can do it and I really want him to.”
Caleb is a two-time champion as a junior, so he is still on track to win four. But that’s a 2024 problem. For now, he just wants to savor the experience of Buena Vista’s state wrestling brotherhood.
