Like the Fred T. Foard High wrestling program, sophomore Caleb Griffin has come a long way pretty quickly.
As a freshman just trying to learn what he was doing, Griffin went 9-24.
Today, when the Tigers travel to West Henderson for a first-round state 3A dual-team match, he'll step onto the mat at 112 pounds with a 34-6 record.
Foard is in the dual-team brackets for only the second time. The Tigers got to the third round in 3A in 2002-2003.
"After a tough freshman year, Caleb really bought into the program during the spring and summer," said Fred T, Foard head coach Mike Carey. "We couldn't get him off the mat and it's paid off.
"He's not a world champion or anything like that but has a 34-6 record and three of those losses have come when he's wrestled up a weight at 119."
When he first got to Foard, Griffin thought about playing basketball but changed his mind after meeting Carey in physical education class.
"After talking with Coach Carey several times, he convinced me I needed to wrestle," Griffin said.
Griffin's older brother, Jeremy, had wrestled for the Tigers and their dad, Larry, wrestled in high school at South Caldwell.
Freshman year was a tough one, though, for Caleb Griffin. He lost 24 times, and many of his matches weren't close.
"I had never wrestled before," Caleb Griffin said. "For the most part, I just tried to grab a leg and hold on and hope I could take my opponent down.
"Unfortunately it was me that was taken down most of the time."
Late in his freshman year, Griffin began to make plans to wrestle during the summer with the USA Wrestling program.
That's when his learning curve really began.
"I was able to get involved in the program and travel around the state wrestling against a number of very good opponents while learning how to wrestle at the same time," he said.
And at home, he also got instruction.
"My brother has helped me out a lot, especially on technique," Griffin said. "I also have gotten a lot of help from my dad on when and where to make my move," Griffin said.
"I am so happy that coach (Carey) stuck with me and gave me time to improve. I just wanted to do everything I could to work harder and get better."
Griffin's primary goal is to finish in the top four at the individual regionals and reach the state tournament in Greensboro.
"My main goal is to qualify and be able to wrestle in the state tournament," he said. "My heart is really set on getting there, and then we will see what happens after that."
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