Hunter Adams, a six-year graduate of Williston (class of 2017), and a junior at Sacred Heart University, has taken his wrestling skills to the Division 1 level, and credits his time as a Wildcat to helping him stay successful.

Hunter balances his schedule and responsibilities with time management skills he learned during his time here.

“The culture of Williston, where you just try to be as active and involved as you can, definitely helped me with my time management skills,” Hunter said.

Williston helped prepare Hunter for college academically, but also prepared him for the challenges of Division 1 athletics.

“Coach [Matt] KaneLong was amazing in preparing me for wrestling at Sacred Heart,” said Hunter. “While the skill level is far higher than high school, I have never once had to worry about my conditioning, toughness, or mental game.”

While at Williston, Hunter wrestled in the 145-pound weight class and won more than 100 matches, securing a spot in the Williston athletics record book.

Now as a junior in college, Hunter wrestles in the 160-pound weight class at 149 pounds, traveling far and wide to different tournaments all over the east coast throughout the winter.

In the fall, spring and summer, Hunter trains with his team for the upcoming season, losing a great deal of vacation time to practices and lifts.

When he completes his education, Hunter , who’s majoring in exercise science on a pre-physical therapy track, hopes to work with athletes and sports “in some sort of capacity,” most likely as a trainer or physical therapist.

If possible, Hunter would like to work in combat sports, more specifically MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), using his background as a wrestler to assist competitors.

“One of my bigger goals is to get involved in MMA and maybe work with some fighters,” he said.

Hunter also mentioned the possibility of coming back to Williston to be a coach for the wrestling team.

“Some of the faculty I keep in touch with at Willy have even mentioned that I should try and come back there to coach,” said Hunter, “which would sound pretty good to me.”