Senior looks to regain championship form on the mat

WASILLA — Caleb Pempek first walked through the hallways of Wasilla High School as a promising young athlete, a freshman on the wrestling squad prime for prep greatness.

He was the Northern Lights Conference runner-up at 145 pounds as a ninth-grader in 2008, and wrestling faithful predicted four years of competing for conference championships for Pempek.

But Pempek, now a senior, is still in search of that championship as he tries to rebound from an unlucky weigh-in that ended his sophomore season and a horrific car accident that nearly ended his career forever.

Pempek is still battling injuries sustained in that 2010 accident and is trying to return to his old form after nearly two years away from the mat. But the Wasilla High senior is more focused than ever, determined to erase two seasons of hardships and replace it with region and state hardware.

“I just decided to come back and come back strong,” Pempek said Saturday evening as he watched the match he just wrestled — a 42-second pin of Thunder Mountain’s Jackson Pavitt during the finals of the North/South Invitational at WHS — through the small LCD screen on his family’s camcorder.

As a sophomore, on the morning of the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships, Pempek missed weight by less than a half-pound, ending the season of the state’s top-ranked grappler at 152.

That day, Pempek thought things couldn’t get any worse. That day only marked the end of his sophomore year, but a horrible car accident early in his junior year nearly ended his wrestling career entirely.

Sept. 13, 2010, started just as any other Monday. Pempek left home early in the morning, ready to work out at Wasilla High before his classes that day. As Pempek was heading to school, his vehicle was struck by a mass-transit bus. Pempek suffered serious injuries in the accident, injuries that would require several surgeries. Head injuries kept him out of school for the first semester of his junior year and, of course, football and wrestling were out of the question for the WHS multisport athlete.

As Pempek rehabilitated from his injuries, he couldn’t keep the loss of his favorite sport out of his mind.

“I cried about it,” Pempek admitted. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to wrestle again. I sat there and watched old film, wishing I could go back.”

The September accident left Pempek with a number of injuries, including a broken ankle and head trauma. Pempek needed nose surgery more than once and had to see a nuerologist for the head injuries every 10 days.

“They were pretty severe. They were checking up on me constantly,” Pempek said. “I was out of school for the whole first semester last year because of it. They didn’t want me going to school. Any stress on my head could cause my brain to bleed.”

Even though he was limited — Pempek was walking in a boot because of the broken ankle and meeting the neurologist regularly — and unable to wrestle, he still wanted to be a part of his team.

“Even though I was in the boot, I went to every practice and helped out at every tournament,” Pempek said.

Even throughout the summer before his senior year, Pempek believed his wrestling season was in doubt. A month before the season was set to start, doctors recommended another surgery for Pempek, this time on his hip and ankle.

“My ankle has still been bothering me. They have been thinking about doing surgery,” Pempek said. “My hip, from walking on my ankle differently, started bothering me, grinding on the bone. They wanted to do surgery on that.”

But surgery would have meant no senior season for Pempek and no chance to realize his ultimate goal, the chance to earn a college wrestling scholarship.

“I decided to hold off, wrestle through it and see what kind of scholarship I can get,” Pempek said. “Put forth the effort and see what I can get.”

Pempek said he’s willing to battle through the pain for the sport he loves. It’s a sport he’s competed in since kindergarten, and one he hopes to be a continued part of his life.

“I think it’s great for our team. I think it’s great for him to be involved in a sport he loves so much,” Wasilla head coach Shawn Hayes said. “Until a couple months ago we never thought we were going to have him back.”

Hayes said it’s Pempek’s work ethic and good attitude that stands out.

“He’s got a great work ethic. This is a sport, just by nature, just having desire and having a work ethic is a big deal. It’s helping him come back,” Hayes said. “He doesn’t complain one bit.”

Training has been harder for Pempek. He still can’t run.

“I’ve been swimming mostly. It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing,” Pempek said.

He’s still working to return to his old form. The 160-pounder won his first official match of the season, pinning Lathrop’s Jacob Wharton in the first round of the Bob Bailey Invitational at Chugiak High School.

He suffered a tough 2-1 loss to Service’s Daniel Murakami in the Bob Bailey quarterfinals, but rebounded to beat Murakami 5-3 in the bracket’s third-place match the next day.

The following weekend, Pempek wrestled his way into the Lancer Smith Memorial semifinals, but was pinned in the semis by the top seed. He placed fourth at 160 after losing another tight match to Murakami.

On Saturday, Pempek pinned his first tourney title since his sophomore year, needed only 42 seconds to beat Pavitt. Pempek pinned all three of his opponents during the tournament.

“We’re just being patient,” Hayes said. “He hasn’t really wrestled in two years, but he’s getting better every day.”

Pempek is simply happy to be back on the mat.

“It feels great,” he said. “Everything’s coming back together. The first two tournaments I was feeling like I was nowhere near where I was. I watched some old films, watching what I was doing before, and I came back this week and did it.”

In addition to the prep schedule, Pempek plans on wrestling in a pair of national tournaments as a senior. He’s slated to compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions later this month and the Virginia Beach Nationals in March.

This is a special year for Pempek. He’s making up for lost times, and after facing a premature end to a season and fearing a premature end to his career, Pempek is battling, regardless of how much the hip or ankle may bother him.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.