By Chris Cox
When Callie Willingham met her husband Drew at the University of Central Oklahoma, she knew wrestling was a big part of his life. What she did not know was the role wrestling would end up playing in her life.
“I was kind of against wrestling at first because I didn’t know much about it,” she admits. “Once I realized what wrestling really was, I fell in love with it. It’s probably my favorite sport to watch. It teaches the kids so much like self-defense, self-confidence, and self-reliance. I just love it.”
Since her oldest son got into wrestling roughly 11 years ago, Willingham has been passionate about not just helping the high school program but also helping build wrestling at the youth level.
“We ran the Glenpool youth wrestling program for 10 years before we moved here to Sapulpa,” she says. “We weren’t going to do that again because it’s a lot. But our eight-year-old wanted to wrestle so, we decided we wanted to build the youth program for Kyle (Blevins) and his assistants since he’s done so much for our older boys.”
Currently, her middle son, Jackson, wrestles for the Sapulpa Chieftains and Willingham says she tries her best to be present and encourage Jackson, and the other wrestlers, as much as she can.
“There are so many ups and downs in wrestling,” she says. “We (all the parents) sit in the stands and cheer our boys on together. It’s like a small family.”
It’s that family mentality that has earned her the honor of being named the Sapulpa High School Wrestling Mom of the Month.
“I was surprised when I found out I was Mom of the Month,” Willingham says with a laugh. “I’m so thankful and it’s so sweet to be appreciated. I don’t do it to be appreciated. I just love to help the kids.”
Callie is married to her husband Drew and has three boys: Cayden (19), Jackson (16), and Sutton (9). Congratulations to Callie Willingham on being this month’s Mom of the Month!
