By Corey J. Corbin
Allied News Sports Editor
Grove City High senior wrestling standout Caleb Kolb will be trading his black-and-gold singlet for a red-and-white one next winter. The 2-time state qualifier recently signed his letter of intent to wrestle at Division I University of Nebraska for coach Mark Manning, who earned the 2008 Big 12 Coach of the Year.
“I wanted to get it out of the way and know where I was going before wrestling started,” said Kolb, who went 39-5 and placed 3rd in the state last year. “I wanted to focus on (wrestling). I just wanted it out of the way.
“It was stressful. At first, it was kind of cool, but it stressful,” Kolb admitted. “It was hard, because it was the biggest decision that I’ve ever had to make. It’s the next five years of my life.”
He just won’t be wrestling right away.
“I’m going to red-shirt my first year,” Kolb said. “I wanted to, anyway, no matter where I went. I wanted to get accustomed to college wrestling. That’s what I’m training for. They have two guys that are wrestling internationally for a year (so it) is going to be awesome.”
The Kolb family is incredibly close — Caleb admitted he’s good friends with his parents (Deb and Jon) — so one of the biggest draws to choosing Nebraska for the youngest Kolb was the family atmosphere in Lincoln.
“Everyone takes you on these nice recruiting trips,” Caleb said. “Coach Manning took me to his house. I was playing X-Box with his kid. It was a real family atmosphere. He had the guys over to his house and they seemed kind of close. That’s what I wanted in a college. Coach Manning just seems like a father figure. He’s an awesome motivator. I’ve always had Deven (Dittrich) and Ty (Wise). They’re always positive.”
Kolb, though, has had his set of detractors, citing his father Jon’s celebrity as a former offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers for getting the scholarship.
“I get that all the time,” Caleb said. “Every newspaper article says ‘ ... son of former Steelers ....’ I want to get recognized for my own thing. Wrestling is my thing. Football is his. I’d work hard anyway.”
After visiting several Division I institutions this past summer and fall, Kolb picked the Cornhuskers over Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Missouri, Illnois and Iowa.
“It’s the Big 12,” he said. “I liked Virginia Tech and North Carolina, but the Big 12 and the Big 10 have tougher style and tougher atmosphere.”
Despite having a close relationship with his family, Kolb is ready to get started with college.
“I’m good friends with my family,” said Kolb, who plans on majoring in exercise science. “I really get along with my parents. It’s going to be weird being away from them, but I’m excited. I’m ready to move out, but ....
“I’ve been wrestling since seventh grade and my dad has only missed one of my matches. That was because he got the wrong time. He wants to come to see me wrestle. (His parents) will probably wait (to move closer to Caleb) since I’m going to redshirt.”
Kolb enters his senior season ranked 7th nationally at 171 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News and as the No. 78 overall recruit in the USA by Intermat.
After the PIAA AA Championships last March, Kolb captured 3rd place at the NHSCA Junior national championships in Virginia Beach in April, and won a gold medal at 165 pounds by going 11-0 at the Disney Duals in Florida in June. He finished in the top 12 of an 83-man 171-pound class after going 5-2 in the freestyle division at last July’s USA Wrestling Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D.
“I think he is one of the top kids in (the) country at his weight,” said Manning, who has coached 27 All-Americans and was an assistant coach for the 1996 and 2000 Olympics squads. “He is another guy that wrestles with a lot of energy. He is a very hard-nosed, tough guy that has great genes. He is a guy that we are very excited for.”
