Successful student-athlete also has run successful business for two years

Mike Clark isn't your ordinary prep student-athlete.

In fact, there's nothing ordinary at all about Calumet's wrestling captain.

Quiet, and unassuming, Clark seems to be an extraordinary individual.

He's demonstrated responsibility, has proven himself to be reliable and dependable, and demonstrated he's individual of great character.

Mature beyond his 17 years, Clark is a young man who takes care of business nearly 24/7.

He maintains a B-plus average in school, is one of the top 130-pound wrestlers in the area, and has been running his own business out of his family's garage for a couple of years now.

The business -- Clark's Screen Printing and Sign Advertisement -- has expanded from making and selling stickers and graphics for race cars, tow trucks and other vehicles -- to designing and manufacturing silk screen T-shirts.

"I probably make around 300-400 shirts a month,'' said Clark, who estimates he earns about $2,000 in profit every month, which helps him defray the costs of his machines and materials.

Clark said he spends at least two or three hours a day on his business, and often works as much as six hours in a day taking care of business.

"We're very proud of him,'' said Melissa Clark, Mike's mother. "He's done well. His business has grown so much in the last year and a half. There probably aren't a lot of kids out there who've put in the effort he has. He amazes me, sometimes, with all the things he can do. He knows so much about the computer and designing -- things that I'll never know.''

Despite his hectic schedule, Clark has displayed great character and compassion.

When Calumet cross country runner, Patricia Lopez, was seriously injured in an auto accident in mid-December, Clark worked with former Calumet assistant cross country coach, Luis Guillen -- now the head coach at Wheeler -- to set up a mile run/walk event to help raise money for her family.

Clark stepped up and produced T-shirts for the Jan. 5 event: "The Road to Recovery Mile Run/Walk. In Honor of Patricia Lopez.''

Clark handed the profits he made from the sale of the T-shirts over to the Lopez family.

"I just wanted to help them out any way I could,'' he said. "I like to help out whenever I can. They were happy about it.''

Clark also designed 120 T-shirts for Calumet's Chris Traicoff Memorial Invite last month. All but a handful were sold at $12 each.

On the mat, Clark's work ethic is second to none.

After finishing his sophomore year with a 35-10 record at 119 pounds, Clark moved up to the 130-pound division this season.

While he's done well, he's had to contend with Hobart's Frankie Porras, who's handed him three of his five losses.

Despite the losses to Porras, Mishawaka's Josh Harper, a three-time defending state champ, and Crown Point's Dallas Schurg, Clark has gone 20-5 this winter.

"I think he's one of the top 130-pounders in the state,'' Calumet wrestling coach Jim Wadkins said. "He's capable of qualifying and placing at the state meet. He's a tough kid.''

Wadkins said coaching Clark is an absolute pleasure.

"If you had 14 kids like him, coaching would be a breeze,'' Wadkins said. "He's there every day and he works hard. He's not a whiner. He does a lot of things to work on his wrestling in the offseason. He's a good student and a good person. You don't have to chase him around -- worrying about him having detention, or not coming to school. He's a very responsible kid. He doesn't get in trouble. He comes from a solid family with a strong work ethic.

"At practice, it's like having another coach in the room. He's a leader, but not a rah-rah type of guy. He's not a screamer -- he leads by example. He pulls the load. The kid's a worker and a workhorse. He's willing to do anything you ask him to do. He always puts the team ahead of himself.''

Wadkins said he realized exactly how tough Clark was at the end of last season.

After having surgery on each knee to repair torn cartilage -- the right knee after cross country season and the left knee prior to the start of the post-season -- Clark still managed to finish as sectional and regional runner-up, before losing at the Merrillville Semistate with a trip to the state finals on the line.

"Mike was hobbling around on basically one leg during the last month of the season,'' Wadkins said. "He didn't have a wrestling practice from the Hobart Invite to the sectional. I don't know how he did it. I was absolutely amazed at his grit.

"He won all the mental toughness awards we had after that.''

With 18 pins and an impressive fifth-place finish at the prestigious Mishawaka Invitational, Clark is preparing himself for what he hopes is a long postseason run.

"I'm working really hard and have improved a lot,'' Clark said. "My goal is to make it to state this year.''