VomBaur family’s wrestling legacy grows with Severance’s Drake VomBaur on track to become a four-time state champion
In the accomplished VomBaur wrestling family, beating dad is the bar.
In the accomplished VomBaur wrestling family, beating dad is the bar.
Ben VomBaur went undefeated in his prep career in Washington, then was a two-time All-American at Boise State. His three sons followed in his wrestling footsteps.
The oldest, Will, was a three-time state champion at Windsor and wrestled at Air Force and Utah Valley. The middle, Vance, was a two-time state champion for the Wizards and is now at Minnesota, where he was an All-American in 2024. And now the youngest, Drake, is on the doorstep of his second state title as a Severance sophomore.
All three sons were molded by workouts with their dad at Bear Cave — a prominent wrestling club in Greeley that Ben’s run since 2012.
“We’d all take turns trying to beat him,” Vance said with a laugh. “I only started getting takedowns on him as a junior in high school, and first beat him that year. When I started getting him, it was a big moment for me. And I know Drake is going to remember the first day he finally takes our dad in a live go. He’s a little smaller, but that moment’s got to be coming soon.”
The sons’ success, paired with their dad’s reputation running Bear Cave, has turned the VomBaurs into one of Colorado’s preeminent wrestling families.
For Drake, a win in Saturday’s Class 4A 113-pound final at Ball Arena would put him halfway to a feat no one in his family has yet accomplished: becoming a four-time high school state champion. Even though Ben was undefeated in his time at Evergreen High School in Vancouver, Wash., it was a three-year high school at the time and he didn’t get the chance to wrestle as a freshman.
Severance High School’s Drake VomBaur takes a moment after winning his match during day 1 of the 2025 Colorado High School State Wrestling Championships in the class 4A 113-lb bracket at Ball Arena in Denver on Feb. 13, 2025.(Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)Drake’s domination over his first two years at Severance — he wrestles there instead of at Windsor because the Weld RE-4 School District boundaries were redrawn in 2019 — is a clear indication he has a real shot at joining the exclusive four-timers club. Drake went 41-0 en route to the Class 3A 106-pound title last year, and is 38-5 this season entering Saturday.
Will said the youngest brother is “the best of both of me and Vance.” And Vance declared that 16-year-old Drake “has the potential to be better than my dad, me, and Will.”
“He has an aggression and eagerness to fight that I saw in myself, and he also has a knack for the technical side like my brother Vance has,” Will said.
As Ben explains, Drake’s most important intangible is fearlessness.
With conservative match-making, Drake could’ve rolled his way to an undefeated high school career. But Drake is intent on testing himself, starting with the very first match of this CHSAA season on Dec. 2 in a dual against Mountain View.
That night, Drake moved up a weight class to face senior 120-pounder Isaiah Harrison, who is in Saturday’s finals looking for his third consecutive title. Harrison won a close match, 4-3. Over the next month, Drake went on to wrestle at a couple prestigious national tournaments, the Reno Tournament of Champions and the Doc Buchanan Wrestling Invitational, where he placed third and sixth, respectively.
“I wouldn’t want an undefeated season without the chance to have that competition against big names,” Drake said. “That’s what matters more to me than if I’m a four-time state champ. What I really want is a chance to prove that I’m tough. A chance to prove that you can put me in the big moments, and I won’t crack.
“So yeah, maybe I’ll be a four-timer, and that would be great. But what I want more is many, many tough matches where I come out on top and I show my character.”
While Drake punched his finals ticket on Friday with a second-period pin over Pueblo County sophomore Israel Trujillo to set up a title showdown against Pueblo East senior Manuel Amaro, Drake’s family cheered him on in the stands while simultaneously watching Vance via a stream. Vance’s Golden Gophers had a dual meet against powerhouse Iowa.
Minnesota wrestler Van VomBaur, a Windsor High graduate and two-time state champion for the Wizards, points following a match at the NCAA championships Thursday, March 21, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Courtesy/Brad Rempel).Vance is currently ranked No. 8 at 141 pounds in FloWrestling’s college rankings. With two years of eligibility left after this one, the 22-year-old’s goal is to finish his college career as a four-time All-American and win a national championship. Just like it was when he grappled with Ben throughout high school, his dad’s talent is a motivator.
“When I got to college, I wanted to have a better college career than my dad, and I’ve put myself in a place to do that,” Vance said. “I’ve got the same mindset that runs in the family, where you believe you can win every match and you’re going to fight through the whole thing. That’s a big part of my success in college.”
Will’s college career is over after a torn labrum and subsequent shoulder surgery ended his season at Utah Valley. But the 24-year-old is back home, coaching at Bear Cave with his dad, whom he was finally able to beat last year.
Alongside his dad, Will he could see himself making a career out of molding northern Colorado’s next generation of elite wrestlers. Outside of the VomBaur sons, Bear Cave’s alum list includes four four-time CHSAA champs in Pomona’s Daniel Cardenas, Windsor’s Isaiah Salazar, Windsor’s Dominick Serrano and Greeley West’s Andrew Alirez, who won a 2023 Division I national title at UNC.
Michael Ciaglo, Special to the Denver Post
Cheyenne Mountain sophomore Chase Johnson, center, struggles against Windsor senior Will Vombaur, right, during the a Class 4A 120-pound semifinal match in the Colorado State Wrestling Championships at the Pepsi Center Friday, Feb. 22, 2019 in Denver. Vombaur pinned Johnson for the win.“In life, people search for something bigger than themselves to feel and find fulfillment, and with our family and Bear Cave, I find pride, joy and motivation in the pressures of the family name and our legacy,” Will said. “And I find a lot of fulfillment in coaching at the club and changing kids’ lives.”
Ben continues to coach all ages of wrestlers at Bear Cave, and the 44-year-old isn’t about to hang up his wrestling shoes.
In the past few years, Ben’s started competing again. He’s won the Veterans Nationals twice in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, and also won two freestyle titles and one Greco-Roman title at United World Wrestling’s Veterans Worlds. His most recent feat came in October in Croatia, where he won gold in both styles at 62 kilograms in Division B (athletes 41 to 45 years old).
“I enjoy competing more than I did when I was younger,” Ben said. “I think I took it for granted when I was younger, and I don’t know how many more of these I get, so I appreciate every one of them.”
Ben VomBaur holds the American flag after winning gold at United World Wrestling’s Veterans Worlds in Croatia in Oct. 2024. (Courtesy of Chris Brown, USA Wrestling)While he was training for Croatia, Ben put up a paper in the Bear Cave room that listed his championship goals and the detailed process he was undergoing to achieve them. Will says that lead-by-example style rubs off on the club’s youth.
“I see a lot of coaches, especially dads, demanding out of their kids what they don’t demand out of themselves,” Will said. “It speaks volumes that our mentor and our coach is out here pursuing his goals as he inspires us to pursue ours. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk.”
Ben is walking the walk with Drake, too, amid an impressive start to his high school career. Drake is already receiving significant Division I interest, and it’s only matter of time before the offers start to roll in.
Preps |
Colorado state wrestling tournament 2025 results and coverage, Day 2Preps |
State wrestling notebook, Day 1: Piper Montoya and Kate Doughty shine for Canon City, plus more storylinesPreps |
Doherty’s Katey Valdez chasing second gold at state wrestling, eyes 2028 OlympicsPreps |
PHOTOS: Colorado state wrestling tournament 2025 in DenverPreps |
Holly’s Jerry Holdren, set to graduate two years early, brings brains and brawn to CHSAA state wrestling tournamentIn the meantime, there’s that important bar Drake is working to reach — beating, and being like, dad.
“My dad’s my best friend, and my best drill partner,” Drake said. “We wrestle a lot together, lift together, go on runs together. When he doesn’t want to lift, I make him go lift, and vice versa. He’s my best workout partner. … My dad is a beast, and ultimately he’s who I want to be like in this sport and in life.”
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