How Northern Iowa wrestler Cael Happel transformed into an All-American contender this year

CEDAR FALLS — Disappointment, to Cael Happel, tastes like gulps of Coca-Cola. It looks like making weight at last year’s national tournament but not getting to wrestle. It’s being the 34th man in line when the top 33 qualify for a chance at a lifelong dream.

Happel, Northern Iowa’s starting 141-pounder, explains all of this while sitting against a wall here inside the West Gym, still dripping sweat after another grueling workout. It’s a Thursday in late February, but the story he’s sharing happened a year ago.

The Lisbon native was an alternate at last year’s NCAA Championships in Detroit. Alternates make the trip and weigh in on day one, but only compete if someone at their weight scratches.

Nobody scratched at 141 last year, so Happel, in his words, “drowned my sorrows in Coca-Cola.”

But … “I used that as motivation for this year,” he continues. “Don’t put your fate in other people’s hands.”

The results look like this: Happel is 16-4 and ranked No. 9 in the country by InterMat entering this week’s Big 12 Championships, set for Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Barring something unforeseen, Happel is a near-lock to secure a spot at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Much of his success this sophomore season stems directly from that near-miss a season ago, when a promising freshman year came to an abrupt end.

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How a promising freshman year at UNI ended abruptly

Last year, Happel was 17-6 overall by mid-February. He had beaten three NCAA qualifiers and was firmly inside the top-25 nationally at 141 pounds, setting him up to compete at the national tournament … until he ended the year poorly.

First, he lost twice to end the regular-season: 9-5 to Iowa State’s Ian Parker, then 9-4 to Wisconsin’s Joey Zargo. Whatever, Happel thought. Top seven place-winners at 141 at the Big 12 tournament advanced to the NCAA Championships. He was the 6-seed. Hold serve and qualify.

Well, Happel went 0-2 at the Big 12 tournament — a 7-2 loss to Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez, then a 10-5 loss to Oklahoma State’s Carter Young. He lost twice on the same day for the first time in, what, five years? Happel suddenly went from 17-6 and ready to dance to 17-10 and on the bubble.

“Mentally, I wasn’t prepared to win that tournament,” Happel says now. “I don’t think I was in the right headspace to compete with the best guys. I was good enough to win those matches … but I didn’t believe it until after they happened, not during or before.”

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Cael Happel was almost able to wrestle at NCAA, but no one scratched

Northern Iowa took eight wrestlers to last year’s national tournament. Happel was nearly the ninth. He continued training and stayed on weight, hoping that one of the 141-pounders who actually qualified couldn’t go. In 2019, Jake Gunning, Buffalo’s heavyweight, was a late scratch, so Purdue's Jacob Aven, the first alternate, wrestled.

Turns out, that same opportunity almost arrived for Happel last year. Real Woods, then at Stanford and now at Iowa, almost missed pre-weigh-in skin checks. Happel says officials called for Woods for a few minutes, during which Happel mentally readied himself to wrestle that day at Little Caesars Arena.

“They have strict weigh-in criteria,” Happel continues. “If you’re not in the weigh-in line like 15 minutes before for skin checks, they’ll scratch you. Real was like 15 seconds away from being scratched. For a moment, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might wrestle.’

“Ultimately, he made it in time, stepped on the scale, made weight, and I went back to our team camp and reality set in that I wasn’t wrestling.”

Northern Iowa wrestled well that first day in Detroit. The Panthers went 6-4 overall in the first session and pushed six of eight qualifiers to the second day. Happel watched from up-close and helped when needed. Colin Realbuto, the Panthers’ 149-pounder, needed to get weight off for Friday's weigh-in. Happel nearly threw up his Coca-Cola.

“That did not feel good,” Happel says now — about both working out with Realbuto on a stomach full of soda, but also about having to watch the national tournament rather than compete in it.

“I’m not who I thought I was,” Happel continues. “I fully expected to be there, but I was not that guy. There was a lot of doubt.”

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'Where isn’t he a better wrestler this year?': How Cael Happel turned it around

Happel returned to Cedar Falls and told himself to take two weeks off. He was back in the West Gym in six days, motivated as ever. He spent the summer reinventing his wrestling style — from an overwhelming, one-dimensional brawler who won four state titles for powerhouse Lisbon to, now, a versatile, tactical offensive machine.

The results, again, look like this: a 50% bonus rate, including four pins. He’s recorded six wins over NCAA qualifiers. He is ranked firmly in the top eight in both the NCAA coaches’ rankings and RPI index, both key factors in determining NCAA qualifiers.

“Where isn’t he a better wrestler this year?” Northern Iowa coach Doug Schwab asks. He continues: “Sometimes, guys get wake-up calls. Sometimes, the pain is enough. They don’t want to feel that again. It burned him. He looked inside and made changes.

“You have to be coachable and aware enough to do that. As a coach, you can show guys the path, but they have to walk that path themselves. He’s really taken it to heart. Now he really believes in himself. He’s a pretty bad dude right now, man.”

Schwab points to late January, when Happel lost twice — to Oklahoma State’s Young, 15-7, then to Oklahoma’s Mosha Schwartz, 2-1. Back-to-back losses derailed Happel’s season a year ago. This time, before the next practice, he stood up in front of his teammates and promised them he’d be better. He’s since won four in a row with two pins.

“Everything is clicking right now,” Happel says.

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Entering the Big 12 wrestling tournament again... this time, with confidence

Entering this week’s Big 12 tournament, Happel again needs to finish seventh or better to secure his spot at the big dance. It will not be easy. Six of the top 16 guys nationally in InterMat’s latest 141-pound rankings are from the Big 12 Conference.

But the experience from last year combined with his newfound confidence this year has Happel thinking much bigger. It’s not enough for him to just qualify. He feels mentally prepared to win it all this week — and the bigger one in two weeks, too.

He smiles. His fate is squarely in his possession this time around — and the Coca-Cola will surely taste a heck of a lot better after he comes off the NCAA podium.

“I believe I’m the best guy in the Big 12 — and the best guy in the country,” Happel says. “That was the biggest change from last year to this year. I know I’m good enough to win the whole thing. If I show up and wrestle the best I can for the next, what, nine matches? I totally believe I can win the next nine matches.”

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: How UNI wrestling's Cael Happel became an NCAA All-American contender