News Journal Wrestler of the Year: Mom watched Caleb Cunningham ‘blossom’ into state champion
OLIVESBURG — Every time they drove to a high school wrestling tournament this winter, Tracey and Ray Cunningham would follow the same ritual in the car.
They’d tell each other, “Let’s have a good day. Let’s pray no one gets hurt.” And then they’d fist bump.
They may want to trademark that routine.
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After three years of battling one injury after another, Caleb Cunningham made it through his senior season for Crestview — and only season as a heavyweight — pretty much unscathed. Good days turned into great memories for the family, especially Tracey and Ray’s youngest son, the newly-crowned News Journal Wrestler of the Year.
Not only did he become Crestview’s first state champion since 2007, Cunningham found himself sharing a remarkable distinction with Perrysburg’s Marcus Blaze and Columbus DeSales’ Max Shulaw. All three pinned their way through the tournament — Blaze in Division I, Shulaw in Division II and Cunningham in Division III.
“The pins never came up,” Tracey Cunningham said. “It was just ‘Two (matches) down, two to go’ or ‘Three down, one to go.’”
Blaze and Shulaw own five state championships between them. And even though Blaze is just a junior, he beat a 2023 NCAA runner-up from Purdue last November in an open tournament and is a member of the U17 World Team.
That’s the kind of company Cunningham was keeping in Columbus.
“It never entered my mind to (pin my way to a title),” he said. “I think I was just focused on winning, but that pin in the finals was pretty awesome.”
Cunningham was referring to his 98-second win over third-ranked Landon Thomas from Harrison Central. Thomas had the tougher match in the semis, outlasting United’s No. 2-ranked Dallas McCracken, a 2023 state runner-up, in overtime.
But Thomas was no match for Cunningham, whose other victims were ousted, starting with round one, in 2:58, 1:14 and 4:48. He spent less than 11 minutes on the mats over three days inside Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center, going above and beyond in living up to his No. 1 ranking.
“I’d think about the possibility of him winning the whole thing and I would just start crying,” Tracey Cunningham said. “I tried not to let myself (look) ahead, but as each match passed I got more nervous.
“Now, Caleb, he was just as cool as a cucumber. He was so chill. He didn’t act nervous at all around us. He was so confident. He was a different animal this year. He wasn’t focused on the rankings. He told us (being No. 1) didn’t mean anything. ‘I’m going out there and doing what I do.’”
Light equals might
Cunningham spent most of the championship round waiting for his title match in the upstairs warm-up area, seated against a wall, listening to country music. At one point, he wandered down through the stands to where his family was seated up close. Families of wrestlers who reach the finals could purchase up to four prime tickets inside the 19,000-seat arena.
“Caleb was like, ‘How do you like the seats?’” Tracey said. “And his dad said, ‘They’re really nice. Thanks for these!’”
While Cunningham was destroying everyone in his path at state, few knew that he was as light as he had been the entire school year.
He weighed in for the meet at 236 pounds. That was three pounds less than he weighed the previous week at districts, close to 20 pounds less than he weighed during the past football season and almost 50 pounds less than the maximum 285 pounds wrestlers were allowed to carry in that weight class.
“I wasn’t going to tell dad,” Cunningham said to his mom, “because I knew he’d flip out.”
He worried at first about failing to keep his weight up, but quickly realized that his strength, quickness and mobility would compensate for whatever girth he gave up on the mats.
And that’s exactly how the three week postseason played out. He went 11-0 with 10 pins. His only loss all season to an Ohio wrestler was to Painesville Riverside’s Antonio Bottiggi, the eventual DI state runner-up, in the finals of the Kenston Invitational over Christmas.
It was a one-point match until the end, when Cunningham desperately tried to shoot and got pinned
“I needed that,” Cunningham said. “I knew he was a good wrestler, and then to have a close match with him meant a little more.”
A week later, Cunningham found himself in the finals of the J.C. Gorman Invitational against Galion’s Alex Griffith, the eventual third-place state medalist in DII. Cunningham beat Griffith 10-0 and jumped to No. 1 in the DIII state rankings. He never moved off that top spot.
“He went 2-2 at the (Walsh) Ironman (early in the season), both of his losses to state champs from other states, and you could see the way he wrestled, the way he competed, how his athleticism translated from 215 (as a junior) to heavyweight,” first year Crestview coach Nate Godsey said. “Winning a state title … that dream and thought was alive.”
‘It has been surreal’
Cunningham’s physical transformation really began between eighth and ninth grade.
“The kids were sent home to be home-schooled in March because of COVID and by the time they got back on the football field he had grown six inches and put on a lot of weight,” Tracey Cunningham said. “The coaches didn’t even know who he was. They were blown away. And that’s when things started to come together.”
Steve Haverdill, Cunningham’s head coach for his entire varsity football career and all but his senior year of wrestling, saw something in him long before that.
“Steve has had confidence in him since he was in biddy wrestling, and he wasn’t even his coach,” Tracey Cunningham said. “When Caleb made it to state the first time, Steve was the only one who came and supported him. We didn’t really know him then, but he stuck with Caleb that whole time. It was pretty amazing.”
Even though he stepped down as head coach after last season, Haverdill stayed on this winter to assist Godsey. Knowing the special bond Haverdill had with Cunningham, Godsey encouraged their one-on-one time and had Haverdill, resplendent in a black suit, seated with him in the coaches’ corner for the title match.
“I’ve not seen Steve smile as much the entire time I’ve known him as I did that weekend,” Tracey Cunningham said. “He told us a couple of months ago ‘I’m getting my suit ready. I’m packing my suit.’ He knew.”
What no one could envision were both Cunningham brothers ending up on top of a state meet podium in a 10-month span. Caden, the oldest, was part of Crestview’s champion 4x400 meter relay team at the state track meet last June.
But, wait, it gets better. After earning first team All-Ohio football honors their senior years for Haverdill, Caden and Caleb will again be teammates this fall at Walsh University. Caleb, the Northwest District Lineman of the Year, will play on the offensive side of the ball. Caden will be a second-year safety.
“It has been surreal,” Tracey Cunningham said. “Caden didn’t really blossom in either sport until his junior year. So we never thought he’d be on top of the podium in track or be playing football in college. He just turned into a different animal his junior and senior year and it was amazing to watch. I think he found confidence in himself and his abilities.
“And then there’s Caleb, his senior year, his first year without his brother. I think he struggled a little bit earlier in the football season and then he just blossomed and went after it. We didn’t have the greatest team, but he was going to make the best out of it and do what he needed to do.”
Cunningham carried that winner’s mentality indoors come November.
“I think we were more excited for wrestling because of his growth and focus,” Tracey said. “He said early in the season, ‘I think I can do it. I think I can win (a state title).’
“And now to have both boys at Walsh, it’s a blessing for us as parents to only have to go to one place. My heart is going to miss wrestling, but it will be amazing to see them play together at the next level.”
Usually mat side with her camera, Tracey Cunningham will always have her collection of photos to help get her wrestling fix. One of her favorite pictures is off a chalkboard she gave Caleb as a youngster to display his “to do” list.
Right there with “Clean my room” and “Don’t say no to mom” was “Get first in OAC State.”
“When he started wrestling in biddy, he’d turn around and look at us and get choked up,” Tracey Cunningham said. “He was so nervous, he’d look at you with these big, brown eyes, and Ray would say ‘Look away, look away. Don’t make eye contact.’
“But he never quit. I think the best he did at OAC (youth wrestling) state was fourth. But even though he didn’t win it, he won big boy state.
“Ever since he was little he wanted to win state … and here we are.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: News Journal Wrestler of the Year: Mom watched Caleb Cunningham ‘blossom’ into state champion
