Aidan Cali spent the last two years working as a legal admin near his hometown in upstate New York, but will look to contend for mat time at Liberty right away.
Lightweight recruits will provide depth for Liberty’s men’s wrestling lineup
6/14/2024 5:08:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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Aidan Cali from New York, DeShawn Hicks from Roanoke, Va., Blaise Verdino from New Jersey, and Blaine Foley from Virginia Beach highlight the Flames' newcomers in the lower weight classes.
Liberty University lightweights Aidan Scheeringa, who finished runner-up as a freshman at 125-pounds, and rising junior Chase Arnestad, who also earned All-America status at 133 pounds at the NCWA Grand National Championships near Shreveport, La., in March, will have quality competition in the wrestling room this fall, with a handful of recruits in the lowerweight divisions primed to contend for mat time next season.
Aidan Cali, 20, who advanced to the state championships as a 120-pound senior at his Division I high school in Baldwinsville, N.Y., in 2022, could be a challenger at 125 or 133 pounds along with WayShaun Hicks, who placed sixth at 132 pounds at the VHSL Group 3A state as a senior at Northside High in Roanoke, Va.
Meanwhile, Blaise Verdino, the Flames' fifth recruit in recent years out of Delsea (N.J.) Regional High School where Flames Head Coach Jesse Castro previously coached, is another strong contender for a lightweight starting spot along with Blain Foley, a VHSL place-winner out of Virginia Beach, who could vie for starting spots at the 141- or 149-pound weight classes.
"It's early to tell anything as far as who is going to be starting where," Castro said. "Every position is up for the taking. That's part of the recruiting process. Every guy that's returning hopefully will be fighting for a spot, and all of these guys coming in are great Liberty representatives who have strong faith and a good work ethic, are well coached, and will fit great into our team culture."
Cali, who will pursue a B.A. or B.S. in Law & Policy: Pre-Law at Liberty after working for the past two years as a legal admin for a law firm and a litigation specialist for a collections company near Syracuse. He bulked up over 140 pounds through weight training and has stayed involved in the sport through coaching at his high school, where his 16-year-old brother now competes.
"I wanted to go to a Christian university and talked to Coach Castro before coming down to see the campus, which is beautiful, and met with some pre-law professors," Cali said, noting that his visit was soon after the Flames returned from nationals. "I didn't get to see a practice, but I met the team, and we ate at the dining hall and hung out, and I went to Bible study with them, which was pretty cool. Liberty has a big-school feel to it, but most people know each other, too."
From the time he was 5 years old, Cali practiced Jiu-Jitsu with his dad, Jeremy, a prosecuting attorney who served as the chief of his police department's Special Victims' Unit.
"My dad wrestled in high school and thought it would be a good way to start," he said. "When you are on your feet in Jiu-Jitsu, it is very comparable to wrestling."
Aidan also dabbled in lacrosse, golf, and tennis before switching to wrestling and focusing on the sport for his final three years of high school. He enjoys being able to contribute to the team's success by focusing on his own match.
"I love the competitiveness of (wrestling), and like that it's an individual sport, but also a team sport," he said. "My job is my job, rather than having a bunch of different things to worry about. I need to get better on my own and that in turn makes the team better."
WayShaun Hicks (right) celebrates a victory at 132 pounds for Northside last season.
Hicks, who played football, baseball, and ran track before picking up wrestling as a sophomore in high school, progressed quickly through the ranks. He graduated with an 83-22 career record at Northside, where he started at 113 pounds as a sophomore, 120-126 pounds as a junior and 132 pounds as a senior, when he suffered a knee injury and had to take a medical forfeit going into the quarterfinal round at the state meet.
"I've been rehabilitating, doing physical therapy, and will hopefully be back at 100 percent by this fall," said Hicks, who plans to pursue a B.S. in Business Administration — Entrepreneurship at Liberty with plans to operate a landscaping company after graduating.
He said he has surprised a lot of opponents who have been competing in the sport for much longer.
"It's taken a lot of hard work, going against guys that have been wrestling since they were 4 or 5 years old," he said. "People are shocked whenever I tell them how long I've been wrestling for. They don't believe me. It's been hard, but if you believe in yourself, anything is possible."
This past season, Hicks was coached by Zeb Stewart, brother of current Flames wrestler Reid Stewart, an NCWA Grand Nationals runner-up as a graduate and third-place finisher as a freshman. They are both sons of Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame wrestler Warren Stewart, the only NCAA champion in program history.
"(Zeb Stewart) instilled in me a very hard work ethic, pushing me by wrestling with the best guys in the room, and giving me a sense of confidence that I can really go up against anyone and stand on my own."
He has won most of his matches by pin, utilizing his explosiveness and ability to make the first move or counter opponents' moves by exploiting their mistakes.
As much as he expects to continue to progress as a wrestler at the collegiate level, Hicks hopes to grow spiritually by leaps and bounds at Liberty.
"I've been a lifelong Christian, and I grew up in the church, which is definitely a big reason why I decided to go to Liberty. My faith is very important to me, and I hold that close to my heart."
He said the Flames program fosters a perfect blend of physical, spiritual, and social growth.
"Everything that comes with it is right up my alley, from the hard work and intensity to just having fun with everything," he said, noting that he would love to help the Flames reclaim their NCWA Grand National and National Duals team championships after finishing runner-up to Bellarmine in both the past two seasons. "Everybody has that same goal; we all want to be national champions. That's going to be my goal all four years, that's what I'm going to be striving for. But I also want to be building my relationship with God, which is a very important part of my life. I want to have the best relationship that I can possibly have."
After attending last summer's Liberty Wrestling Camp, when he trained primarily with Arnestad, Hicks will serve as an instructor during this year's camp, set for June 28-July 1 at the Club Sports Complex. His younger brother, Warren, who's 16 but has been wrestling for a year or two longer than WayShaun, will be participant this year.
