Revitalized Chew ready to lead Raiders

Despite the talent, he was asked to go. It didn't matter that he was the best wrestler on Bolingbrook's team.

There was no room for Charlie Chew last season because Charlie Chew didn't care. He skipped practice, butted heads with the coaches and sometimes didn't make weight. "My attitude was real bad," Chew said. "Whenever Coach wanted me to do something I would do it, but if I didn't like to do it, I wouldn't do it."

After the Dvorak Memorial Tournament in late December, then-coach Mike Papes made up his mind that enough was enough. Chew was kicked off the team.

The routine was old. The coaching staff, including current coach Rob Kichka, had hoped that Chew would begin his junior season with a new approach. It was time to be a leader. It was time to grow up.

"He basically gave up his chances," Kichka said. "It was a tough decision to make for the team. But we can't have guys in here ruining the atmosphere. That's what it came down to."

With a quiet voice and a quick grin, Chew doesn't appear to be a troublemaker. His outward demeanor may reflect maturity gained. Then again, it could just mask the impish behavior he's displayed in his high school career.

The senior, who is currently slated at 152 pounds but may move down to 145, can't really explain what motivated him to act out.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Chew said. "Maybe just because like I'm good. I don't know. Maybe that's why. Bad attitude pretty much, yeah. Thinking that I'm better than everybody, which I'm really not."

Being cast out of the wrestling room was tough Chew said. The practices he so often used to eschew and the drills he used to do at half-speed were now off limits to him. Despite his banishment from the team, Chew said he still attended the meets to support the Raiders.

Fellow senior Andrew Flynn said there were no hard feelings when Kichka decided to give Chew another opportunity to prove himself this season.

"He's been welcomed back," Flynn said. "His attitude has really changed."

What he must have thought was a right - being a varsity wrestler - was shown to him to be a privilege revoked. The result was some contrition, some humility and a dedicated effort in the offeason that convinced Kichka that Chew could be a different person than his history suggested.

"That just changed my mind," Chew said. "It's like this year, I'm serious. No more messing around. Whatever coach says goes. I work hard in practice. I'm losing weight. Whatever Kich says goes this year."

On and off the varsity roster for parts of three seasons, Chew estimates that he has wrestled around 30 varsity matches. That's less matches than most wrestlers get in one season. In a sport where success is determined almost as much via repetition as athleticism, this lack of experience could be Chew's downfall.

"I benefit from being able to wrestle him every day," Flynn said. "He's very quick so it helps me. He makes everyone in the room better."

Even though Kichka told Chew to "buy in or you're not going to be with us", Chew did stumble out of the gates. He missed a couple fall practices, but has been a model citizen since.

Chew was always a good wrestler. What he hadn't been was a good teammate. So it was a happy surprise for Kichka when he noticed Chew becoming a leader.

"As soon as he came in he was being a leader and that's what shocked us the most," said Kichka, who named Chew a captain along with Flynn and Joe Siemetz.