New Carlisle teen dies of crash injuries

A Clark County teenager injured in a two-vehicle crash this past weekend died on Tuesday afternoon.

Caleb Young of New Carlisle — whose 17th birthday was also Tuesday — was a junior at both the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center and Tecumseh High School.

Counselors have been made available to students this week, CTC Superintendent Rick Smith said.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Smith said. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through.”

Tecumseh Superintendent Norm Glismann released a statement Tuesday evening.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the families involved in the crash, and with the Springfield-Clark CTC, friends and family of Caleb Young as we all cope with the loss of one of our Arrows. As always, the emotional and physical well-being of our students is our highest priority. To support our students, administrators in the high school and middle school have arranged for personnel to meet with any student who wants to talk in the coming days.”

Young, a member of the wrestling team, was a polite person who worked hard, Tecumseh Athletic Director Craig Eier said. He was an alternate for the district championship wrestling tournament this season. He was also named the Arrows’ most improved wrestler.

“He was a great kid,” Eier said. “It’s just an extremely sad and difficult situation. There’s no words to describe it. It’s shocking.”

Young fit wrestling at Tecumseh into his schedule between work and classes at the CTC, Tecumseh wrestling coach Scott Herbert said.

As a sophomore two years ago, Young wrestled several weight classes above his size and never complained, Herbert said. This year, as a junior captain, Young wrestled at 152 and 160 pounds and missed advancing to the district tournament by one point.

Young had already begun off-season training at a wrestling club in Dayton, Herbert said.

“It was driving him to do better next year, but he really improved this year,” said Herbert, who has coached at Tecumseh for the past 25 years.

Young is the third wrestler to die since 2011, Herbert said. Daniel Tittle died in a car accident in 2014 and Cole Smoot died of an accidental drug overdose in 2011.

The Arrows wrestling team will dedicate the season to him next year, Herbert said.

“He was always a pretty positive kid,” Herbert said. “He was a good kid to be around.”

Young and his sister, Megan, shared the same birthday, Herbert said. Megan Young is an eighth grader at Tecumseh Middle School.

Young was driving a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix northbound on Medway New Carlisle Road at 10:34 p.m. Saturday when his vehicle went left-of-center and struck a southbound Ford F-350, according to the state patrol.

The truck’s occupants were David Sowers, 36, and Krystal Sowers, 34, both of Medway. David Sowers didn’t report any injuries, but Krystal Sowers was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, according to the state patrol.