SJCA’s Caleb Dowling determined to win wrestling state title — twice

Hidden away from the mounting snow outside and removed from his teammates’ pre-practice game of “Spike Ball,” St. Joseph’s wrestler Caleb Dowling made a somewhat jarring statement. But he delivered it without hesitation and without regret.

“My goal is to win two state championships,” the sophomore said inside the Ken Chertow Home Training Center, sitting in a dark room with press clippings of former champions pinned to the wall behind him. “My vision when I’m working out or running by myself is getting my hand raised in front of everyone in the Giant Center at states.”

But Dowling’s coach, Pat Flynn, doesn’t want him thinking about two state titles.

“I’m trying to talk him into three,” SJCA’s coach said with a smile. “I hope he’s not cutting himself short. I think he can do it this year.”

A sophomore star at 138 pounds, Dowling owns a 17-1 record this season, ranks third in the state and became SJCA’s first-ever place-winner at last year’s PIAA state tournament. Eventually, the grappler wants to be a three-year starter at a premier Division I program. Flynn even mentioned the Olympics in passing.

Time will tell if Dowling ever gets to that point. The odds aren’t in his favor. Odds are, he won’t win two, or three, state championships, either. Dowling’s father, Tim, even cautions his son how hard it would be to capture a pair of titles. The wrestling talent in Pennsylvania supersedes most.

But the Wolves’ leader believes he can do it — and no one close to him is going to question that faith.

“It’s in his hands,” Dowling’s dad said. “With the success he’s had and his work ethic, nothing would surprise me.”

Added friend and teammate Zack Witmer: “He has the experience of being in Hershey and placing in Hershey. He knows what it takes.”

Witmer, a freshman, wasn’t with the Wolves last season. He was still in eighth grade. But for years, he and Dowling went down to the Giant Center for PIAAs to take in the scene, to watch the state’s best go at it.

Last year, Dowling was a part of that group — and there’s no chance Witmer was missing that.

“It was pretty special,” Witmer said. “We’ve been going to Hershey for years waiting for it to be our turn, and it was awesome to see him go out there, beat so many kids and be a freshman place-winner. That’s hard to do.”

Dowling, who’s been going down to Hershey for PIAAs since he was 4 years old, understands first-hand.

He reached the quarterfinals, lost a heartbreaker, fought his way to the third-/fourth-place match and fell 8-2 to Pequea Valley’s Gabe Miller. Dowling’s hand wasn’t raised in that final appearance, but he hit his goal. He placed, coming in fourth, as the only freshman in his weight class.

That weekend was transformative for Dowling. Placing aside, he was on a stage he watched with a glimmer in his eye for years.

“It was a dream to be at PIAAs,” Dowling said. “Walking in there, seeing the seats totally empty knowing I’d actually wrestle there and then to place, I mean, just a couple years ago I was a kid watching and saying, ‘Whoa, those kids are good.’ And to know there could be a kid saying the same thing about me, it was really cool.”

Added his father: “I can remember him saying how cool it would be to wrestle there one day. ... We’d stay for the finals and the parade of champions. Just being there instilled that drive in him; that atmosphere was where he wanted to be.”

Ten months removed from the experience, the sophomore has a greater appreciation for what he accomplished.

But as the days go by, it becomes clearer and clearer to Dowling that he doesn’t want to end up in the third-/fourth-place match again. Placing made him hungrier for a title, and it’s shown.

From last year to now, Flynn said Dowling is bigger, stronger, quicker with his feet and more cognizant of his positioning — allowing him to score easier and make it harder to be scored on. SJCA’s coach said they will continue to work on finishing faster, but he acknowledged that Dowling has put in the work necessary to win it all.

Witmer said Dowling “does everything right,” from managing his weight to pushing teammates in practice. Freshman Ammon Ohl noted that Dowling is the first one ready for practice and typically the last one to leave.

It is for those reasons that everyone within the SJCA projects a level of certainty in Dowling’s state title quest.

“I’m really confident,” Ohl said. “I don’t see who could beat him.”

There’s plenty of competition for Dowling to deal with. Miller, last year’s placing match foe, is still around, and so is Reynolds star and Pittsburgh commit Cole Matthews. Plus, Dowling still has to go through districts and regionals.

But Dowling doesn’t see that as too tall of a hurdle. He is committed to not just winning one state title, but two, after all.

Perhaps he could even get the first of three this year.

“No doubt,” Witmer said. “He definitely has what it takes to be a state champion.”

This story was originally published January 19, 2018 at 12:25 AM with the headline "SJCA’s Caleb Dowling determined to win wrestling state title — twice."