Sophomore Cam Caffey takes down Maryland’s Kyle Jasenski. Caffey defeated Jasenski by pinfall. The Spartans defeated the Terrapins, 36-0, on Jan. 19, 2020 at Jenison Field House.
As college students, everyone has had those nights where everything comes to a head.
As you sit in your dorm room or in your apartment, you rattle off the things you need to do over and over. By the end of the night, you must be an expert in calculus, have written a paper, work your shift and be ready to get up for an 8 a.m. class. As the stress rises and the hand cramps grow, you start to wonder whether you can do it.
Michigan State wrestling redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey is in the same boat.
As a sophomore, Caffey leads Michigan State in falls with eight and is 21-6 on the season. In his freshman season, Caffey was second on the team in wins by going 32-9 overall.
Coming into this school year, Caffey carried a perfect 4.0 GPA as a computer engineering major in the Honors College. When asked how he balances such a large workload, Caffey had one answer.
“Barely,” he said. “It has been very hard, especially this year. I’m at hotels taking quizzes or coding stuff instead of just chilling, getting ready for a match.”
As a wrestler, Caffey does not get a full scholarship, so this adds another layer of stress to his schoolwork.
“A good part of my scholarship comes from the Honors College, so if I drop below a 3.2 ... that’s part of my livelihood, just gone,” he said. “I can’t afford to slack anywhere, whether it’s on the mat or in the classroom.”
For Caffey, Michigan State wasn’t always the place he wanted to be. As a Carbondale, Illinois native, the University of Illinois was one of his first choices.
“Illinois didn’t want me as much as I wanted them,” he said. “I had never heard of Michigan State before I started talking to (assistant coach) Chris Williams.”
Like many students thinking about attending MSU, sometimes it isn’t in the cards due to the price tag. Caffey began to look at his options, but then MSU showed how much they truly wanted him when they upped the scholarship.
“I called them and was like, ‘Hey, was that a misprint?’ and they said, ‘No, we just really want you here,’” Caffey said. “I got off the phone and I was like, ‘Man, I really want to be there,’ and I signed it right then.”
Even though he still has more than four semesters of school left to get his degree, Caffey is already thinking about his future after wrestling, and it involves being a computer engineer.
“There’s a lot of growth in the field, there’s money in the field and just being an engineer would be kind of cool.”
MSU wrestling coach Roger Chandler praised Caffey’s work ethic and loves the way he leads his team. However, what stands out to Chandler about Caffey is how he gets his teammates to work harder just by setting an example.
“I think people look to him and what he’s working on, then look themselves in the mirror and go, ‘Man, maybe I should be doing this,’” Chandler said. “Cam is definitely a leader in all aspects. ... He’s a leader in academics, he’s a leader ... in the way he competes and he wins a lot.”
The juggling act of being a student and an athlete continues on the mats. Even with all of his accomplishments in the classroom, his work on the mats is truly an art and people are beginning to take notice. On Feb. 2 versus No. 1 Iowa, nothing was going right for MSU. Even with that, Caffey found a way to get the Jenison Field House the loudest it had been all season when he upset No. 6 Abe Assad.
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Caffey said that match was personal for him.
“That kid beat one of my teammates in the state finals a couple years ago, and then ... he beat my brother at Greco State three or four years ago,” Caffey said. “It was really a redemption thing for them, for all the homies back home.”
Chandler said he thinks Caffey is capable of great things.
“Cam can be a national champion, he knows it,” Chandler said. “You’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg with Cam right now. ... He’s a very special kid.”
Caffey stays motivated despite being on a six-duel win streak.
“I’m doing worse than I was at this point last year,” he said. “This year I started off 3-2 after the MSU Open, and I remember I was really just like, ‘Damn, that was really bad,’ coming out of that.”
His drive and desire in everything he does already has him thinking about his legacy as well, and what he wants to leave behind.
“I just don’t want regrets,” Caffey said. “As long as I leave it all on the mat and I don’t have any regrets, I’ll be happy.”
As he left the gym after the Iowa duel, Caffey picked up all his things — juggling some Triscuit crackers, his headphones, his wrestling shoes and phone, just like he juggles the life of a student-athlete.
