By simply getting to Denver for this year’s CHSAA state wrestling tournament, Aidan Halloran’s already a champion.
Crowley County High School wrestler Aidan Halloran takes a breather during practice at Ward Middle School in Ordway on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.
He stood up, and took one step. There were still many more hurdles to come. But after being put into a coma and nearly dying multiple times, Aidan had already cleared the most important one: Regaining the resolve to put himself back together. “Wrestling gave me hope, and it gave me a tangible objective to reach for. It was something to make me never give up.”
“He withdrew, and he wouldn’t talk to many people,” Buford said. “… Even I didn’t see him a lot during that time. But he knew his dad would want him to be on the mat. That drove him back out there.” But in his quarterfinal match at Ball Arena, Aidan tore the meniscus in his right knee, forcing him to forfeit the semifinal match and consolation round. He still ended up on the podium, in sixth place.
That day, Aidan became septic. He underwent emergency exploratory surgery, and doctors discovered a blood clot that had killed off part of his colon. By that evening, he was placed on life support and into a medically induced coma. Playing football and wrestling were out of the question, but he went out for baseball that spring, even though he had never played before. He was hungry to participate in Charger athletics — even with a colostomy bag hanging from his stomach.
“Since Blevyn’s death, Aidan has leaned in closer to our family, and that’s been special for us,” Brown explained. “I see it in his eyes — he was near death, and the Lord brought him through that. He knows we have experienced death, and he’s caring for us from his experience.” Crowley County High School wrestler Aidan Halloran, center, ends practice with teammates and coaches at Ward Middle School in Ordway on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Heartbreak is nothing new for the citizens of Ordway, a small town of about 1,150 in southeastern Colorado.
“I just had this feeling that I was needed,” explained Boyett. “Call it God, call it intuition, I just knew we needed to be here closer to them. rented a way bigger house than we needed to on purpose, because the other Halloran kids would come over. We were desperate to just offer whatever support they needed. And I know people in felt the same way.”Ordway’s main occupations are the corrections industry and agriculture.
A pair of scars on his stomach are all that remain from his original operation and colostomy bag, which was removed after five abdominal surgeries in October and November. Another scar on his chest is from his chemotherapy port. Then there’s the array of stretch marks on his back from when his body puffed up and deflated during his time on life support.
That called for a game-plan adjustment, to become a wrestler more dependent on mind than muscle, Crowley County assistant coach John Gray said, even as one important variable hadn’t changed.