Wrestling, Cal College give Dan Bedoy a second chance

It’s a 1.17 -mile commute from his house to the main building at Calumet College of Saint Joseph in Whiting.

Daniel Bedoy, however, has taken a circuitous path to the brick-enclosed wrestling room in the basement of 2400 New York Ave.

His battered ears represent a life spent wrestling. The scar on his chin reminds him of bygone days when a motorcycle crash was in keeping with his character. Yet the smile on his face announces optimism.

The wrestling program at Cal College is in its first season, starting anew. Bedoy, 25 with a slightly receding hairline, is the team’s lone senior. He, too, is starting fresh.

A state runner-up season at Bishop Noll helped him land a scholarship to wrestle at Purdue. Hard work propelled him to qualify for the NCAA Championships his sophomore season. A carefree existence undermined the hard work, though, and frustration with school and life led to an amicable departure from West Lafayette.

Coincidence created Bedoy’s latest opportunity.

Leroy Vega and Angel Escobedo — Bedoy’s cousin and the 2008 NCAA champion at 125 pounds for Indiana — are friends, bound by success in their sport, a common heritage and ties to Northwest Indiana’s powerful wrestling tradition. Vega, a two-time state champ at Portage and an All-American at Minnesota, was named Cal College’s first coach April 13.

Read this entire article by Paul Trembacki of www.nwitimes.com here…