Tom Cortez was more than a coach.

He began his career as an assistant coach at Fort Lupton High School from 1978-1984 and then at the University of Northern Colorado from 1985-1987.

Cortez returned to high-school coaching at Greeley West for three seasons (1987-1989), tacking up a 15-8 dual-match record.

He spent the next 11 years at Brighton High School, took three years off, then returned as head coach from 2004 to 2006. While at Brighton, his teams compiled a 140-12 dual record, winning four state titles and one runner-up trophy. Only one team in his tenure at Brighton finished out of the top 10. He and former coach Rich Aggen led the Bluedevils to a pair of state wrestling titles in a 10-year span.

Cortez coached 18 individual state champions, 51 state place-winners and seven high-school All-Americans. He was the state’s Coach of the Year five times and was a 2007 inductee into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.

He retired from coaching in 2006 and from teaching at Brighton High School in 2012. He was the Brighton Teacher of the Year in 1994.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Adams State College in Alamosa in 1976 and a master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in 1987.