Senior bids to be school’s first wrestling champion
When it comes to Slinger wrestling, Caleb Ziebell is at the top of the charts.
The senior passed Adam Beine as the school’s all-time wins leader Saturday at the North Shore Conference meet. The 138-pounder enters the regional Saturday at Slinger with 172 career victories.
There is more history to be made, though.
Slinger has never produced a state wrestling champion, but Ziebell has the potential to be the first. He is ranked No. 2 in the state by wiwrestling.com in Division 1 in his weight class behind Eau Claire North’s Mason Phillips.
After Ziebell won the conference title Saturday, he explained his mentality as a wrestler, told us about his family’s roots in the sport and shared why he committed to Division I Davidson (N.C.) College.
Q. What is the difference between the person we see on the mat and the person we off it?
A. I’m in the stands joking around with friends, but I know I have to get mentally ready for my match when my brother (Carter) wrestles at 106, and I like to coach his matches and see what he is doing. After that I get my headphones on. I like to listen to rap music before my matches and I just go through my head about what I’m going to do during the match and just tell myself that I’ve put in more work than any opponent who is across the mat from me. I just tell myself that I’m going to go out there and win.
Q. What would you call that kind of mentality?
A. I would say more than anything it’s a confidence mentality that I have more self confidence than my opponent and that I know I’ve put in more work and that it’s just a mental thing that I’m confident in myself.
Q. You went up two weight classes from last year when you finished sixth at 126. Are there challenges that come with going against bigger wrestlers?
A. I would say no. My technique got a lot better and the biggest thing is I lifted every day during the summer. J.D. Rollins, he was my strength and conditioning coach. We’d go every day during the summer. Really, when you bump up two weight classes sometimes there is a physical difference, but I feel at the top of my physical performance and the peak of my level right now just from lifting all summer.
Q. Wrestling roots run deep in your family. Explain the impact that has had in your development.
A. I’ve always grown up with my grandma and relatives telling me about how great my uncle, Steve Allar, was. He wrestled at Hartford and was state runner-up his senior year (2001). I’ve always grown up looking up to him and wanting to one-up him and be a state champ at Slinger, Hartford’s rival. My grandma always pulls out old videos of him and I used to wear his wrestling shoes. … He still comes to all my stuff and I still look up to him a lot.
Q. What is the best piece of advice he has given you?
A. He just says go out there and get after it, and that is what I do.
Q. Why did you choose Davidson and what will you study there?
A. Coach (Andy) Lausier, he’s the new coach at Davidson. He just got there and he reached out to me. He was the only person who reached out early to me in recruiting. Me and my family took a trip down there in July and me and him had an instant bond as a coach and athlete. He showed me around Davidson and (explained) that they’re a rebuilding program. It was just an overall great fit. The college is a great fit. I’m looking to study business, and they’re one of the premier economic business school in the southern region.