Class of 2026: Caiden Hooks
Posted May 06, 2026
As Otterbein celebrated the Class of 2026, one outstanding graduate who walked across the stage on May 3 was Caiden Hooks ’26, a Political Science and History major who minored in Spanish, Creative Writing, and Legal Studies and was a student-athlete on the men’s wrestling team. Caiden graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors. While all that might seem impressive on its own, Caiden also happens to be blind.
Caiden was born with cancer in his retinas and, since then, he has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, and more than 130 operations. His eyes were removed by the time he was 4 years old. Throughout the journey, his family overcame a lot, and Caiden learned the kind of perseverance that only comes with experience.
The Hooks family moved from Michigan to Ohio when Caiden was young so he could attend the Ohio State School for the Blind, where he excelled academically, creatively, and athletically.
He started playing piano around the age of 6, learning with the Suzuki method (by listening). He can play multiple other instruments now, and even played in the Ohio State School for the Blind (OSSB) Marching Band — the world’s only all-blind marching band.
He also played goalball, a sport developed after World War II for blind and visually impaired World War II veterans, and competed in wrestling at the School for the Blind, Shanahan Middle School, and Olentangy Berlin High School.
“I call him a Renaissance man,” said Jamie Hooks, Caiden’s dad. “But as a child, he was 100% blind and 100% rough and tumble.”
When he came to Otterbein, Caiden continued to do the things he loved on campus — even while maintaining a near-4.0 GPA in the Honors program. “I have thoroughly enjoyed playing the piano for the Otterbein Christian Fellowship worship team and the opportunities to (sing) the National Anthem for Otterbein athletic events. I have benefited from the creative writing program at Otterbein in helping refine my creative writing skills, which was tremendously helpful as I was blessed to have two novels published during my time here at Otterbein. I was also extremely proud to be an early member of the Otterbein chapter of Turning Point USA,” he said.
That’s right — Caiden has also published two novels, which are available for purchase online. “The first is an action-adventure novel about a teen boy who learns about personal responsibility during a visit to a bookstore. The second is a Medieval-type story,” he said.
Caiden also continued to wrestle at Otterbein. Jamie, who coached Caiden during much of his pre-college wrestling years, has stayed involved and drives him to and from wrestling, as well as classes and campus activities.
Jamie explained how wrestling is different with Caiden, “There is very little accommodation needed; the wrestlers just have to start in contact and stay in contact with each other. That’s it. But Caiden is hard to hold down, and some athletes play the edge as a strategy.”
Jamie recalled a time when a coach complained that Caiden had an advantage because of the accommodation. “Imagine a coach complaining the blind wrestler had the advantage,” he said with amusement.
“He has never seen the sport. He can’t see his teammates during practice. When wrestling feels hard, Caiden can’t see that everyone else is struggling, too. He’s still trying his hardest, and he can’t see that the others may be slacking,” Jamie said.
For their part, Caiden’s Otterbein teammates see him as just another teammate. “Wrestling is a really supportive community,” Jamie said.
Caiden has had a lot of highlights during his wrestling career. “I made it to the Ohio State Tournament my junior year (in high school). I was the first blind wrestler in the state of Ohio to qualify for state,” he said, adding that he also competed in the NCAA Division III Wrestling Regional Qualifier for Otterbein in 2026. Caiden was the only blind wrestler competing in the NCAA this year.
Perhaps more important to him than those successes was a personal highlight. Caiden recalled “winning a home wrestling match by pin in front of my now late Grandfather, which was the first and only time that he was able to watch me wrestle in person.”
In addition to wrestling, Caiden’s involvement in the Otterbein Christian Fellowship (now Otterbein CRU) was an important part of his Otterbein experience. One of the things he is most proud of is his musical contributions to the worship team.
“It may seem funny, but I am actually very proud of the gospel-esque piano arrangement I created of the hymn ‘What A Friend We Have in Jesus.’ The OCF worship team seems to love the piece which is kind of a departure from a more traditional style. I enjoy arranging musical pieces, and that one was fun to create, and something I can take pride in,” he said.
It’s no surprise that faith is important to the Hooks family. “Our church family was there for us when we were going through crisis. That has been important in our lives. We were a young couple with two children and got Caiden’s cancer diagnosis a couple months after our third baby was born, they helped us when we didn’t even ask,” Jamie said.
“God is a way better writer than I am,” said Caiden. “I don’t know how everything will work out, but it’s all part of His plan. If not for my blindness, we wouldn’t have moved to Ohio, my brother wouldn’t have met his wife, I wouldn’t have come to Otterbein.”
(Caiden’s brother, Bretten Hooks ’24, also attended Otterbein, where he met his wife, Jordan Thompson Hooks ’24.)
Caiden believes God led him to the right place. “As a student with a visual disability, I can honestly say that the support system I have through Academic Support Center/Disability Services here at Otterbein is second to none. They were a strong factor in my decision to attend Otterbein. I am grateful for the many professors, the entire coaching staff for the wrestling program and everyone in the Academic Support Center/Disability Services that have been so willing to support me both academically and athletically. Otterbein was truly the best choice I could have made,” he said.
What’s Next for Caiden: ‘’I am planning on taking the next year to prepare for entry in Law School.”
Shout Outs from Caiden:
“Brent Rastetter, Otterbein’s Head Wrestling Coach, has been a superb coach and mentor. He has helped guide me in learning how to face the many difficult challenges and adversity wrestling at the collegiate level throws at you. He has fostered in me the ability to persevere, to have grit, and face difficulty head-on.”
“Without the tireless toil of Sarah Banaie in Academic Support Center/Disability Services in converting all of my coursework to accessible formats, I would have been lost. I will forever be grateful for all of Sara’s hard work in making my college experience accessible, which made it all possible.”
“Professor Nick Robinson has been instrumental in presenting complex issues in class and through lively class discussion, breaking issues down and examining things from multiple perspectives.”
“I must also express immense gratitude to Professor David Merkowitz. Along with being a fantastic history professor, I have benefited greatly from his guidance as my honors thesis advisor.”
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