Julianne Vodicka looked at the clock Monday evening trying to sleep off her emotions.
It read 5:47 as she saw the numbers, then 6:06 at next glance. Numbers formed letters, letters formed abbreviations and a message to her and her son Dylan Vodicka appeared.
Friday rolled around, and it was supposed to a be a joyous day as Dylan Vodicka and the Class C defending state champion David City Scouts were set to open the wrestling season at Columbus Lakeview.
Instead, Julianne and Dylan spent Friday morning saying goodbye to Jim Vodicka, a husband, a father and an avid wrestling fan and supporter of David City. Jim Vodicka, 56, of Garrison, died last Sunday at Bryan East Campus in Lincoln due to COVID-19 complications.
"I'm usually laying on my side so I'm seeing the numbers in both directions," Julianne Vodicka said. "So the 7 looks like an L and the 4 looks like an H and the 5 looks like an S and wrestling was going to be at LHS (Columbus Lakeview High School). The next number I saw was 6:06 and the 6 looks like a G and it said Lakeview High School, go.
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"There was no question what Dad wanted. Right there, as long as they were going to let (Dylan) weigh in late, he wasn't going to miss it."
The funeral was at 10:30 Friday morning in Garrison, then a nearly hourlong trip to Columbus. David City head coach Tahner Thiem had told the defending Class C 170-pound state champion that it was OK if he did not want to wrestle.
"I pulled him into the coach's office (Monday) and had found out the funeral was going to be on Friday, which was our first invite," Thiem said. "I told him, 'Let's just take this day to be with your family and take care of your family first. Sit out this first tournament and we will pick up where we left off next week as far as wrestling goes.'
"I could just see the look on his face that is not what Dylan wanted and what Dylan had not planned."
Vodicka trekked on with emotions. He wanted to wrestle. He knew his father, who never missed a wrestling meet, was with him.
"It's what he would have wanted," Vodicka said.
Weigh-ins for the Lakeview Invite were set for noon with the event kicking off at 2 p.m. The head coaches agreed to move the weigh-in time so Vodicka could wrestle.
"There really is nothing quite like the wrestling community," Dylan Vodicka said. "It's always there to pick up someone else in the community and everyone is understanding of it."
With a heavy heart, Vodicka pushed on and took the mat. He opened with an injury-default victory in 33 seconds before claiming two wins by pinfall and the 182-pound weight-class title.
"When I was warming up and jumping around, I was just thinking, 'It's not the same,'" Vodicka said. "Ever since I was young, I don't think my dad wasn't at any match I wrestled. It was just good to know I was very capable without him and that he is still watching over me. I have a lot to work on, but it was a good starting point."
Vodicka's tenacity and will was more than just for him.
"Dylan is just so mentally tough," Thiem said. "I never saw any emotion get to him until after he won in the finals. I think there was a lot of people fighting back tears and plenty of tears flowing. This is such a tough, manly sport, but there is that caring side. That family-oriented side. It was tough on a lot of people, especially Dylan. We talked a little bit to the kids and let them know it's OK to let your emotions go and not have to be that stereotypical man of 'I'm never going to let a tear fall in front of anyone else.'
"I think we grew closer as a team because of it. People say you 'Bleed blood, sweat and tears,' that we've bled together, we've cried together and we've laughed together. I don't think a lot of that is true, but for us it is. As a team we kind of went through this grieving process together."