BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT
Caleb Hale is a senior on the Bay Port wrestling team. Hale has wrestled anywhere from 145 pounds, all the way up to 160. Caleb is tentatively planning to attend NWTC next year to complete some of his general education classes before transferring either to Northern Michigan University or UW-Eau Claire. Hale plans to become a teacher or study criminal justice.
Name: Caleb Hale
Parents: Dad – Michael, step-mom – Anne; Mom – Heidi, step-dad – Mike
School: Bay Port
Sport: wrestling
Weight class: 145-160
Twitter: @HaleCalebhale83
As we talk, you’re eating a yogurt with some pecans in it. Do you always eat that healthy? “My sophomore year I really had to because I had to cut weight. I used to eat a lot of pizza after meets but that just made me have to cut weight again. Now I eat healthy and just try to maintain a good weight. Moderation is the key.”
How many years have you been involved in wrestling? “I started doing wrestling in eighth grade because I thought it would help me get better for football. Then I liked wrestling so much that I didn’t play football anymore.”
Do you regret not sticking with football? “Sometimes but with so many kids, I probably would have been on JV as a senior! I’m pretty small.”
What do you like most about wrestling? “I love how anybody can do it. There are kids on the team that look like they are in third grade and they win matches. Anybody can compete. I also like how it’s aggressive.”
It’s a hard sport! “It is a hard sport with trying to maintain your weight and eating the right things. Now that I’m a senior I realize what it takes. You have to go 100 percent all the time, even in practice. You can’t cheat it. In a team sport you are just one part of that, but in wrestling if you screw up it’s your fault.”
Have you ever suffered a serious injury? “Last year I joined a new club in the summer and was wrestling Max Bruss (De Pere). He wrenched on my knee, I felt a pop and thought I broke a bone in my lower leg. I couldn’t walk on it for like three days. I had to stay off of it for like a month.”
You’re obviously hoping to get to state this year. Is that realistically possible in your mind? “I do believe that is realistically possible and I think it’s realistic that I get to the podium at state as well. I put in a lot of work in the offseason.”
Do you ever get nervous before a match? “Yeah, I do. You just have to remember that it’s just another match.”
What do you think about when guys try to intimidate you before a match? “I think it kind of just makes them look foolish. I don’t judge people, but I would never go out there slapping myself and jumping all around – just wrestle.”
Which teammate would you NOT want to wrestle against if they were on the opposing team? “That’s a good question. If he was a little more equal in weight, (sophomore) Austin Heim would be really hard to wrestle. He can chain wrestle and can just move. He will tire you out. He’s very technical and aggressive.”
Who is the best wrestler you’ve ever gone against? “Tyler Schilling from Minnesota. I started off strong, but after that he unloaded on me. He took me down, let me up, took me down again and then had me on my back. It was almost like he was playing around with me. He’s at UW-Madison now.”
Which teammate should have his own reality TV show? “Eli Trast. He’s always putting funny stuff out there.”
What’s it like wrestling for Coach Shefchik? “He’s a really good coach. I love how he puts his practices together and knows how to coach you up. He can be brutally honest but also put it in a way to really help you.”
How about a high school sport you wish you could have done? “Hockey. It’s a lot like wrestling with the aggressiveness, but I can’t even skate.”
What is your most memorable sports moment? “My sophomore year at the Pulaski dual, I ended up wrestling the last match and we were up by just a couple of points. I pinned the guy to seal the win.”
Do you have an embarrassing sports moment? “Last year when we wrestled De Pere, I decided to wear orange underwear. I later looked at the pictures and you could see a rip where my bright orange underwear was popping out.”
What are some of your non-sports related hobbies? “I like to read and hang out with my friends – normal high school stuff.”
What is something about you most people wouldn’t know? “When I was one I had the tip of my finger cut off in a door hinge.”
Please share that story! “My mom owned a daycare service and my finger got closed in the door! The doctors reattached it with a pin and stuck my arm in a cast. Three separate times when my parents woke up the next morning, I had pulled the cast off, pulled the pin out and the tip of my finger was just lying there. Each time they put on a different cast to prevent me from doing the same thing. They started calling me Houdini.”
How will Caleb Hale be remembered at Bay Port High School? “I hope as an outgoing kid who people enjoyed being around.”
Dogs or cats? “Cats.”
Tent camping or camper? “Tent camping.”
Tiny house or tree house? “It depends on where the tiny house is…if it’s in the wilderness or by the ocean, I’d pick that. Otherwise the tree house.”
Read the book or watch the movie? “Read the book.”
Lie on the beach or ski down the slopes? “Ski down the slopes.”
Favorites
Food: pizza
Movie: Dunkirk
Subject: interpersonal communications or sociology
TV show: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Cereal: S’mores
Coach Brad Shefchik’s comments: “Caleb got kind of a late start with wrestling, so when we first got him here, he was just a beginner and had to learn the sport fast. He had big goals coming in and that’s one thing we learned about him early on – he wanted to be competitive by the upper years of his career. He’s one of our team leaders and has a goal of getting to the state tournament. Caleb is emotional – he wears his emotions on his sleeve. The kids respect that he goes out there, gives his all and is passionate about what he does.”
Notes: Suggestions for the senior spotlight can be submitted to Rich via email ([email protected]) or via Twitter (@richpalzewic). All spotlights can be found online at thepress.media. Check out last week’s spotlight on boys’ basketball player Alec Nagel.