Douglas High senior Cody Highfill grins after picking up his 100th career win during Senior Night last week. Highfill has a 36-8 record this season.
Photo by Ron Harpin.
You can see the disbelief in Cody Highfill’s face after he earned his 100th career varsity win on the wrestling mat last week against Bishop Manogue.
The Douglas High senior had little choice but to crack a semi-surprised grin as the match official raised his right arm into the air.
Highfill had a career record of 65-56 coming into his final season, needing 35 wins to reach the 100-win milestone.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the senior boasts a record of 36-8.
It was only fitting the senior’s surgically-repaired right shoulder – the one fitted with seven screws, following a surgery that nearly ended his wrestling career – was the one lifted into the air as he celebrated the occasion.
“It meant more than anything,” said Highfill of his 100th win. “I never thought I would have been able to do it, especially after, like, taking that time away for shoulder surgery and coming back and not having the best season. I never thought it would have been a reality.”
NO QUIT ATTITUDE
You’ll have to forgive Highfill for any self-doubt along the way. It’s only natural after medical experts advised him two years ago to give up the sport.
As a freshman, the Tiger wrestler tore his labrum nearly off the bone.
The injury didn’t stop him from competing, but it also didn’t stop the damage from compounding, either.
His shoulder would repeatedly pop out of place and at a certain point he realized a more immediate solution was needed.
When Highfill decided to undergo surgery after his sophomore season, he still remembers his doctors’ prognosis.
“They said it was one of the worst ones they've seen,” recalled Highfill. “They said I shouldn't wrestle again.”
Six months of rehab and physical therapy was its own challenge, but the 120-pounder returned to the mat as a junior after extensive work in the offseason with his club team Gold Rush Reno.
Highfill struggled with a lack of positive results despite countless hours of dedication both on the mat and in physical therapy.
“I had a hard time coming back from it,” Highfill said. “I was kind of getting angry at the sport almost, just like thinking it was unfair cause I still wasn't winning that much.”
His return came with one obvious change, coming in the form of a large, black brace wrapped around his repaired shoulder during every match his junior year.
There was also a subtle adjustment in his pre-match routine.
After years of battling nerves prior to each bout, Highfill went into matches as a junior kneeling before the first whistle.
Even if only for a moment, the Douglas wrestler tries to center himself with a few deep breaths.
“I get really nervous before every match. Every single match,” said Highfill. “Just taking the second to calm down and then popping back up, like, it works really well for me.”
His success this season has come with his leg riding techniques and taking the attack to his opponents.
Highfill won his first tournament as a varsity wrestler last month at Cody Louk. He followed that up with a first place finish at his home Steve Deaton Memorial Tournament on Jan. 11.
Of his eight losses this season, only two have come against opponents from Nevada.
“He's kind of hit a new level,” said Douglas head coach Jake Fair. “Being somebody that people look up to, that happens pretty naturally. But being somebody that people can come to and ask questions of, or that they can go down and say, ‘hey, let me help you work on something.’ That's a change in leadership. It’s been a really good evolution for him.”
(Douglas High’s Cody Highfill pauses before a match this season. The Tiger senior captain said he started the ritual as a way to calm his nerves before matches. / Ron Harpin)
LEADING THE WAY
Trying to quantify Highfill’s internal desire to return to the mat is only magnified when you consider he doesn’t intend on wrestling in college.
The Douglas senior said he just wanted to prove to himself he was capable.
He still plans on pursuing mixed martial arts in the future, but ultimately, the effort to get to this point has all been worth it.
“I'm glad I did it because it kind of taught me a lot about myself and I learned even more from that than I did from wrestling, about not quitting and having something to work for,” said Highfill.
His will power is one of the main reasons he’s a team captain.
He’s an ideal example of discipline in a sport built around some of the toughest athletes, both mentally and physically, on the planet.
Highfill is able to look back on the toughest days of high school with gratitude.
He’s found ways to laugh at his pain, too, now that he has a few extra steps to get through TSA airport security with his internal hardware.
No matter how Highfill finishes his regional and state tournaments, he can look in the mirror knowing he’s done everything he was capable of.
“I think about that all the time, like, if I was like looking at my younger self right now, like, there's no way I wouldn't be my hero,” said Highfill. “Like, I would be my younger self's hero. I'm doing all this work. I'm doing all this work for him, because he's really who, like, fell in love with the sport.”
(Cody Highfill works atop an opponent earlier this season. The Douglas senior will be one of the top seeds at 120 pounds at this weekend’s regional wrestling tournament. / Ron Harpin)