Pueblo East sophomore Aaden Valdez used the weeks following his horrific Independence Day fireworks accident — in which the wrestler lost his left eye as well as four fingers on his left hand — to assess his future. After only seven days in the hospital he came home, at which point he made a daily routine of going into the basement or to his local gym to exercise however he could with his still-healing wounds — air squats, lunges, sit-ups galore.