The right shoulder of the Varsity Wrestling team T-shirts has the acronym “AFT” and the image of an orange ribbon. Both are an enduring tribute to Tyler Cockerham, a member of Charlotte Latin School’s class of 2017 who died suddenly from leukemia in December 2015 — only months after he was diagnosed, just 17 years old. “AFT” is an abbreviation of “All For Tyler.”

“Tyler was a wonderful kid. His courage and his fight were inspirational for so many kids,” said Richard Fletcher, who was Co-Head Coach of the team with David Paige in 2015. “His struggles were harder than anything they might do on the wrestling mat.”

Paige, the current Head Coach of the Varsity Wrestling team, remembered visiting Tyler in the hospital. “The number-one thing he wanted to do was come to a Latin wrestling practice,” Paige said. “Seeing him at that practice was a profound moment in my life: on his deathbed, you could see how important community was to him.” Paige added, “I think about him constantly: his story reminds you why you do what you do.”

In his final months, Tyler’s greatest fear was that he would be forgotten after he was gone. So each year, Paige makes a point of telling the team who Tyler was, making sure that his memory stays alive. In addition to the shirts, the team gives an end-of-season award each year called the Tyler Cockerham Unsung Hero Award, designated not for the team’s best wrestler, but for the one who exemplifies how he lived his life: a glue guy who unites the team. And at the Winter Sports Showcase in December, the team paid tribute to Tyler ten years after his untimely death.

His mother Debbie Cockerham was in attendance and remembered how much the team meant to her son. “He was not a great wrestler,” she conceded. “And he had his struggles like any normal high school kid does. But he was embraced by the team — the camaraderie was just amazing. And when he was diagnosed, the coaching staff and his teammates were so important to him.”

Liam McConaughy ’26, a current member of the Varsity Wrestling team, recalled how when he first joined the team, he took particular note of a practice mat that was inscribed with Tyler’s name and the message “NEVER FORGET.” “It really stuck with me,” he said. “It’s something we all think about as humans — we’re not on this earth for very long and we take everything for granted. Sometimes I don’t want to go to wrestling practice — it’s long and it’s hard. But without wrestling, I don’t know what I would do. If I got sick, wrestling would be the one thing I missed the most.” Tyler’s story endures with Liam and his teammates because he reminds them of how transient their good fortune can be and how much they value the people around them. Liam reflected, “Just living every day and waking up every morning is a blessing.”