Norwalk, St. Paul rounding into tournament shape

Feb. 8—NORWALK — Callie Helton didn't know what she was getting herself into.

But the Norwalk junior did know she had family ties on her side.

Helton scored another win Wednesday night as the Norwalk wrestling program hosted Holland Springfield, Shelby and St. Paul in a rescheduled home meet.

This is the first time in school history that Norwalk has fielded a girls wrestling team. Helton and teammate Mya Prochnow are leading the charge.

"I went into it not really knowing what I was getting myself into," Helton said. "I took it head on and started training with my dad (Max) and my uncle (Danny) because wrestling runs so deep in my family. The day it got sanctioned, my dad asked me what I thought. He thought I could do it and be a scrappy wrestler.

"So we started training. It's always been tough, and my uncle has especially pushed me every single practice. But I like it, especially the individual aspect of it."

Helton found the situation especially challenging when she couldn't just step right in and know what she was doing.

"I was very tough on myself, and when it's a completely new thing, it takes repetition and a lot of hard work," she said. "That was an adjustment."

Nico Helton, Callie's cousin, also pinned an opponent just before she did.

"I love it," she said. "We're closer than ever because of this. Training and working together, he's helped me so much. I couldn't be half as good without practicing with him."

Meanwhile, the timing of Wednesday's meet was crucial for the Truckers and first-year coach Erich Metzger. The match was originally scheduled for Jan. 25, but was canceled because of weather.

Being able to reschedule gave the Truckers some mat time ahead of hosting the SBC championships on Feb. 18 at NHS.

"It actually worked out for the better for us," Metzger said. "We were looking at a two-week layover before SBCs, so it was good to get an extra dual match in. Happy to get St. Paul as well, to get them extra matches in. We care about our neighbors across town and we want to make sure they are also ready for their conference. It's been a great night.

"The girls looked fantastic again in our first year with Mya and Callie," he added. "They do an outstanding job and work as hard if not harder than the boys in the room. We're looking forward to the postseason. I have a lot of faith in this team and I think we can still have some surprises go our way."

Caizzo rounding into shape

Meanwhile, St. Paul junior Casper Caizzo pinned a pair of Norwalk opponents Wednesday night as he continues to work back from a herniated disc injury.

The Division III state champion at 113 pounds last season, Caizzo did not participate in wrestling activities for six months.

"I'm healthy, so that's a big thing," Caizzo said. "I'm just trying to get my gas tank filled up, but overall the technique is still there and I'm just kind of getting used to the grind. That's the biggest challenge right now as opposed to who I am wrestling. So far right now it's only been me dragging myself down, if that makes sense ... me holding myself back."

Caizzo said when he was injured, his body was used to tensing up, and not used to certain physical positions.

"I have to get my body used to rolling around again," he said. "When I was injured, bending over, picking things up ... I couldn't do any of those small daily things."

Now 19-1, Caizzo will still see some big challenges before he seeks the state podium again.

This weekend, Caizzo will wrestle at Rossford, where Toledo Waite sophomore Phoenix Contos could wait. Contos is the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state in Div. I according to the latest borofanohio.net rankings.

St. Paul will host the Firelands Conference championships on Feb. 18, where Caizzo — ranked No. 6 in the state in Div. III — could see Mapleton's Brock Durbin, who is currently ranked fourth in the weight class.

"I'll have some tough matches for sure," Caizzo said. "But I'm looking to come out on top again. It won't be easy, but I feel like I can at least put myself in position to contend."

St. Paul head coach Jesse Gross was also pleased to get his wrestlers some mat time without having to leave city limits.

"It's always good to get opportunities for kids to wrestle," he said. "We had an extra point left to fill, and certainly being able to stay in Norwalk was nice. It's all about keeping our competitive edge and staying ready to go at all times.

"The last time we wrestled was Jan. 28, so between then and the conference meet at home, that was potentially a three-week layoff."

Gross also talked about Caizzo — the first individual state champion from Norwalk or St. Paul in 25 years last season — rounding into shape.

"Obviously conditioning will be big for him at this point," Gross said. "We're trying to run him through the right drills, because at this point of the season most of the big events are done.

"But with Contos and Durbin potentially, he's going to see some good tests to see where he is at and where he needs to improve. We're going to get him some high-level competition yet before postseason, which should help."