Orem • Moments after Caleb Schulte finished off his second opponent Wednesday evening, the senior changed into his warmups and prepared to talk about the match.
Stitched onto his left chest in Warrior gold lettering was T BASEBALL, in honor of his favorite sport.
“Wrestling’s probably No. 2 after baseball,” said Schulte, who won by technical fall and by third-round pin to reach the Class 6A state semifinals in the 160-pound division.
Schulte is a multi-sport athlete – middle infielder for the baseball team in the spring, receiver and cornerback for the football team in the fall. And though wrestling isn’t his true love, it just might bring him the most recognition.
He is trying to become the school’s first state champion since Roy Nash went undefeated in 2012-13. Schulte’s balance of patience and ferociousness on the mat has led to 34 wins against just three defeats this season.
“He’s a natural athlete and natural athletic ability,” Taylorsville coach Shawn McNiven said. “His style is a little different than most kids. He just picks and throws. His hips are really good and he wrestles aggressive. He’s patient, but when he goes, he goes.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Viewmont's Shion Abe and Murray's David Keorte (bottom), 5A State Championships, high school wrestling quarterfinals in Orem, Wednesday February 7, 2018.
Pleasant Grove sits atop the team standings with 128.5 points, followed by Layton (105.5), Herriman (105) and Syracuse (93.5) and American Fork (77). Eight Pleasant Grove wrestlers remain in the winners bracket.
Schulte, the top seed in his half of the bracket, will meet Davis’ Trendon Dunn first Thursday. Schulte was in the same spot a year ago in the 152-pound division but was facing the top seed. He lost that match but recovered to place third.
He says he’s much more comfortable being the “hunted” as the top seed.
“There’s definitely a little more pressure, but that makes it more fun,” Schulte said.
In addition to carrying the torch for Taylorsville’s program, Schulte has a family name to live up to. His brother Christian placed third at 152 pounds in the 2012 state tournament for Highland. And dad, Paul, talked Caleb into returning to the sport after he quit as a 10 year old.
“He comes from a wrestling family and he’s the youngest kid,” McNiven said. “I don’t know how that works — everyone beats on the little brother or whatever — but he has older brothers who all wrestled through high school.”
Schulte’s Taylorsville teammate Braden Henson also went unbeaten Wednesday at 145 — a fine showing for a program that had just five wrestlers competing over the 14 weight classes.
Henson, a junior, is in position to improve on his fourth-place showing at 132 pounds last year. He will face Davis’ Dan Waddoups in Thursday’s state semifinal round.