Clymer headed to Lock Haven

For Caleb Clymer there were decisions to be made about not just where he would play following his high school days, but which sport.

He had scholarship offers for both football and wrestling, but in the end heading to Lock Haven for wrestling seemed to be the right choice.

It makes sense considering that he would choose wrestling, a sport where he starred as a state champion.

“Wrestling was all business and it feels like my job, like what I’m supposed to do,” said Clymer. “Football was a lot of fun and I definitely enjoyed that and I had a few scholarship offers for football, but wrestling is what I’m good at and what I want to do.”

As a sophomore, Clymer finished sixth in the state in wrestling and followed that up with a third-place finish in his junior season. He captured gold this season in Hershey, following his brothers Ben and Scott as PIAA gold medalists. His other brother, Bobby, even served as an assistant coach for Northwestern helping to lead his brother to state gold. And yes, there’s a younger Clymer coming along who wrestles, but he’s got a few more years until he hits the high school ranks.

Clymer is going to major in physical education with a minor in criminal justice at Lock Haven, whose wrestling program competes at the Division 1 level. With a family full of strong student athletes, he’s looking down the road at continuing somewhat of a family tradition and working his way into the coaching ranks. He credits both his football and wrestling coaches at Northwestern with helping him to get to Lock Haven and with confirming just how much he wants to be in their position at some point.

“All of my brothers have coached at some point, and my brother Ben is coaching at Faith Christian Academy, so I’m hoping to do that and become a teacher and then get into coaching football or wrestling or both,” said Clymer.

“Coach [Josh] Snyder in football and coach [Jim] Moll in wrestling have always pushed me to be the best not just in sports, but at everything. They led me to winning the state title and they’re the reason that I was able to go to a school like Lock Haven.”

Lock Haven turned out to be pretty much of a perfect school for Clymer. He’s excited about the chance to pursue his wrestling goals and have the opportunity to get a good education. Plus, he’s going to be somewhat close to home but will still have a little space away from mom and dad. It really was the mix of what Lock Haven offers athletically and academically that helped to drive Clymer.

“They’re an up and coming wrestling program and the past couple of years they’ve been getting better, and this past year they finished 12th in the country as a team. Academically they were eighth in the country as a team,” said Clymer. “Finishing that high as a team was what really stood out to me, so it was an easy choice to go there.

“It definitely is a good fit, plus the country type of setting makes it feel like home. It’s not too far away from home but it’s the right distance. It gives you some space, but you’re still close.”