Caiden Pelc Named December Student-Athlete of the Month

Caiden Pelc, a sophomore on the wrestling team at Portland High School, has been chosen as the winner of the J-Dubbs Signature Subs/Portland Beacon Student-Athlete of the Month award for December 2019.

Pelc was nominated by Portland wrestling coach, Andy Pulling.

In his nomination of Pelc, Pulling said, “Caiden currently has a 3.04 GPA and wrestles for the Raiders at 119 lbs. Caiden has a clean 15-0 record while racking up 10 pins and a technical fall.”

Pulling added, “Statistics don't tell the whole story. Caiden's success is from hard work in- and out- of season, staying after practice, having a ‘white belt mentality’, supporting his teammates and finding a way to smile. Caiden is willing to wrestle at and above his weight class, essentially, wherever he is needed. Caiden is looking to improve his 2019 All-State finish which was 6th Place and knows he needs to continue being a hard-worker and applying his learning mindset to do that."

To be nominated, a student athlete must attend either Portland High School or St. Patrick School, and be a member of a varsity sports program or school-sponsored athletic club at his/her school. Nominations may be made by a member of their high school coaching staff, athletic director, principal, or a school recognized student government organization at his/her school. Nominations are also accepted from The Portland Beacon contributing writers.

As the monthly winner for December, Pelc will receive a free sub from J-Dubbs Signature Subs.

Monthly winners are entered into the student-athlete of the year contest. The winner for the year receives a party platter from J-Dubbs Signature Subs.

The other finalist for the December award was Portland’s Aryan Virk. Virk is a 6’ 5” senior on the PHS basketball team. Virk was nominated by PHS basketball coach Jason Goerge. Goerge said, “Aryan is a team captain, and a very positive role model to the basketball program. In his first three games Aryan has scored 23 points against Lansing Christian, 11 pts. against Ionia, and 24 pts. against Sexton for an average of 19.3 pts. per game the month of December.”

Photo courtesy of Renae Goodman.