St. Paul's Caizzo seeks higher placement

NORWALK — The internal switch has been flipped. The progression has been clear each season on the wrestling mat for St. Paul senior Cam Caizzo. Now, one final weekend is here. One more chance to leave a mark. "It's been a nice run, it feels good to be back — and I'm just really grateful to have made it again," Caizzo said of a second straight trip to the Division III state championships, held this weekend at Ohio State University in Columbus. "It feels good to be back, but I hope to end up finishing much better than I did last year," Caizzo said. "It's easy to get content with where you are." After winning his opening round match at state last season, Caizzo fell in the quarterfinals, then had an up-and-down experience in the consolation rounds as he worked his way to the podium for the eighth and final spot for All-Ohio honors. "I'm working real hard, because it's easy to get content with where you are," Caizzo said. "It's easy to say, 'I accomplished all this, I'm happy.' But I still have a chip on my shoulder. There are a couple of goals I've not met or haven't accomplished yet. I'm just really pushing myself to work harder and aim higher to try and reach those goals I set for myself." Caizzo just missed reaching the districts as a freshman in a 28-win season, but then followed with another 28-win season and reached the district as a sophomore in 2018. That set the stage for last season's run to the podium, which also resulted in a 39-win season. This season, Caizzo hit the 40-win mark last week at the Napoleon district, and got a little bit of atonement from the Plymouth sectional from Feb. 29 along the way. After losing last Saturday in the district semifinal round to three-time state placer Tanner May (Carey), a tough 3-2 decision, Caizzo was dropped down to the consolation rounds and needed to win one match to get back to Columbus. He beat Paulding's Cole Mabis, 8-4, to clinch that spot, but then for the potential to improve his seeding and place third, he squared off with Edison's Jacob Thompson. A week earlier at the Plymouth sectional, Thompson surprised Caizzo with a 6-4 victory in the championship match. Caizzo then turned the tables last weekend with a 5-2 win over Thompson to earn third place. "Thompson is a great wrestler, and he's at state for a reason, too," Caizzo said. "I don't know if I took him as seriously as I should have that first match (at sectionals). Last year I went out and pinned him pretty quickly. But he's been working with (Jacob) Brewer, and Edison has 10 kids going on to state. They've obviously put the work in, and he just caught me off guard. "I should have prepared better, and I took him too lightly," he added. "Last week, I simply mentally prepared myself and knew what I had to." Between the likes of May, Thompson and Oak Harbor's Wyatt Miller, just getting out of the district to reach the 16-person bracket in Columbus is a feat at 182. May defaulted the district title match after getting shaken up by Caizzo in the semifinal. If healthy, borofanohio.net projects May as the state finalist, with Miller third. "It's nice being in a really tough district with that type of competition like May and Miller," Caizzo said. "He's one of the biggest, strongest kids I've ever faced at 182 pounds and probably all of the state. It's nice to be able to go against one of the best wrestlers and see where you fall. Every time I feel like I've been getting a little closer each time, hope to finally overtake him." He may get that chance pretty quickly. Caizzo (40-7) will open against Lucas Stoddard (30-2), a sophomore from Burton Burkshire. Should he win, May (38-2) could be waiting in the quarterfinals. "We have a tough group from out district, so there is no way I'm taking anyone lightly," Caizzo said. "I don't care what anyone's record or ranking is. Every match, I need to wrestle the same and no conform to them being ranked high or with a great record. I know they've all placed before. I can't look at this stuff — not at this point when there is only 16 of us left." In his high school career at St. Paul, Caizzo has played in a state semifinal in football, placed at state wrestling, and competed at state track and field on a relay team. He is looking to join Ed Young (1980-81), Scott Jaworski (1981, 83), Andrew Welfle (2005-06), Wes Fritz (2013-14), Hayden Miller (2014-15) and Derek Gross (2014-17) as multiple-time St. Paul placers at state. "I think it's more excitement at this point than nerves," Caizzo said. "I'm just really excited to go out and see if I can prove myself again and go as deep as I can go to see what my best results in. But it's a grinder, no doubt, from sectional, district and know state. I know there is a lot of great wrestlers, but I just need to focus on the match in front of me." -------------------------------------Caizzo career by season 2017: 28-20 (fifth at sectionals) 2018: 28-19 (district qualifier) 2019: 39-11 (eighth at state) 2020: 40-7 (state qualifier)