Ashland Source will select one student athlete to be recognized as the Park National Bank Athlete of the Month during the 2023-24 school year. Nominations for Athlete of the Month are accepted from Athletic Directors and Coaches, but are ultimately chosen by Ashland Source and are based on the student’s exceptional athletic performance, effective teamwork and achievement in their communities. Park National Bank is proud to support this initiative and is giving the athletic department of each school $1,000 in honor of each athlete chosen.
OLIVESBURG – It must have felt like a coronation and a culmination all rolled into one Wednesday for Caleb Cunningham.
Walking down an aisle of the Crestview High School auditorium, he smiled as he received a slow clap from teammates, friends and family on his way to the stage.
Cunningham signed his National Letter of Intent to attend NCAA Division II Walsh University, where he will follow in his brother’s footsteps and play football.
Before he hits the college scene, though, Cunningham still has to put the finishing touches on one of the most impressive senior years a high school student-athlete can have.
He was named the Defensive Lineman of the Year in the Firelands Conference following the Cougars’ football season and since has moved on to wrestling, where he’s a Division III state-title contender at heavyweight.
Cunningham’s 18-0 record on the mats in January featured 11 pins and two tournament titles. It also helped earn him January’s Park National Bank Athlete of the Month honors for the Ashland Source.
“I looked back and I was like, ‘Man, this year’s been great,’ ” he said. “Football could have went a little better (as a team), but I had a lot of fun. And wrestling right now is going amazing – much more than I ever would have thought would happen when I was a freshman looking ahead.”
“Teammates, partners, coaches,” he added, “they’re working me hard to the point I am right now.”
Cunningham entered the wrestling season having won FC titles the last two years at 215 pounds. But the lean, 6-foot-5 standout had goals of bulking up for his senior year, and with that came a bump up to 240 pounds and heavyweight on the mats.
With a 31-3 record and 23 pins, it’s safe to say the plan worked out. He said January was the best month of wrestling he’s ever put together.
“Heavyweight is a unique part of the high school lineup where you can be 30 or 40 pounds different than your opponent,” said first-year Crestview head coach Nate Godsey, who helped coach the Cougars and Cunningham as an assistant to Steve Haverdill last year.
“It speaks volumes to his athleticism and his wrestling ability that someone who is giving up 45 pounds to many of his competitors can excel.”
“The kids look up to him in every aspect and he’s the hardest worker in our room,” Godsey added. “He brings an energy in there that the kids can feed off of.”
Cunningham worked through injuries last season to finish eighth in the state at 215, and this season could see him become one of just 40 wrestlers ever to win three FC titles.
It’s been huge momentum coming off a football season that featured 102 tackles and seven sacks in the regular season en route to Northwest District Lineman of the Year honors as a first-team All-Ohioan.
The Cougars graduated a large group from a 2022 team that finished 12-1 and captured their third straight Firelands Conference crown. Cunningham helped lead them back to the playoffs despite their youth.
“We had some young guys and I had to step up,” he said. “I’m not used to that leadership because we always had those good seniors that talked a lot, and I was kind of just listening to them because they were the top dogs. But then I had to step up and get my guys going and kind of do what I do best.”
He said he’s been playing football since fourth grade and started wrestling as a kindergartner.
Crestview athletic director Tim Kuhn remembers those early days well. He’s been working in the school district for close to two decades now and said he coached Cunningham when he first stepped onto the youth wrestling mat.
“Caleb’s definitely one of the stronger athletes to have gone through Crestview,” said Kuhn, himself a Crestview graduate. “A multi-sport athlete who’s the top athlete in both sports, you don’t see that very often.
“As an athlete, he’s had about as dominant of a year as we’ve seen.”
Away from sports, Cunningham carries a 3.5 GPA and says he’s “more of a homebody” because he’s always worn out by the end of his days.
Kuhn said the senior has also put in time with Crestview’s youth and reading programs.
In football, Cunningham had received interest from Vanderbilt, Central Michigan and Heidelberg, and he said Ashland University also reached out.
But with a great scholarship package and the chance to link up again with his older brother Caden – who was a freshman for the Cavaliers in the fall – Walsh was an option he couldn’t pass up.
He said his family and his parents, Ray and Tracey Cunningham, already are looking forward to watching games, one of which will be at home Nov. 9 against Ashland.
Until then, Cunningham will try to put a bow on a senior year overflowing with excellence.
“From my standpoint, watching him grow from a kindergartner to a senior, it’s super special to see all that hard work pay off,” Kuhn said.
“When you have little kids coming up, you want those kids to look up to role models like Caleb.”
