You’ve heard of him, Section Three’s only three-time wrestling state champion. Add to that a runner-up in his freshman year. It has been said he is the best Section three wrestler ever! Dan Hunt was kind enough to sit down and talk to me about his famous wrestling history. It wasn’t easy. Here is a humble, easy-going man far from bragging and not living in his past glories. Here is a person who had to dig out his old pictures. His home is decorated with family pictures, not wrestling mementos.

His humility has been there for a long time, even when there once was a Dan Hunt Day in Onondaga County! Let’s start with that.

“How did that come about?”

“Well, it started as a town day honoring the third state title. Then the school joined in and then Onondaga County with John Mulroy declaring a day."

“Did they let kids out of school?”

“I never got a day off. No, I don’t think so.”

“How about back to the very beginning? Did you participate in peewee wrestling?”

“No, there weren’t any program like that back then.”

“How did you become such a good wrestler?”

“I don’t know… I was involved in gymnastics. My brother was a gymnast and I always tagged along. When I was in third grade I was doing handstands. Soon I was setting records in my grade school for handstand steps, one hundred three to be exact. I do remember that. I could even go up the stairs in my house. That probably lead to my favorite event in gymnastics which was the floor exercise. I once did an exhibition for West Genesee in seventh grade with the varsity. My big decision was to join wrestling or gymnastics right up until the ninth grade season.”

I think he made the right choice. He participated in modified wrestling at West Genesee. His coaches found a special athlete in their ranks. Bill Stessen was his modified coach and later his junior varsity coach.

“We were taught basics and fundamentals.”

Dan learned to shoot in, single and double legs. He weighted around one hundred five pounds back then. He was very, very strong. I would say that he won the states just by shooting in, lifting up and taking down. Then he would let them up and do it all over again. No one could ever hold him down, ever. I remember his teammates in the bleachers betting how fast he could get away after the first tick on the clock. It was always a second or two no matter who he was wrestling!

“Dan, how about that standup?”

“That was my move. I would stand up and turn in very low. I practiced it from modified on. I did it every day in practice and even on my own. Stand up, break away, shoot in, three points.”

Bill Stessen added, “He was as coachable wrestler as there ever was. He always worked hard in practice no matter how good he became. All basics, he rarely tied up. One time I heard a wrestler talking to his coach who drew Dan first round in a tournament asking what to do against Dan Hunt. The coach quickly advised him to shoot and bridge.”

“Dan, what were your favorite moves?”

“Definitely the single leg takedown, the half with a wrist, and the double leg takedown too.”

“So, no fancy moves or headlocks?”

“No, I never once used a headlock. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad move. It just wasn’t the move for me. I really didn’t tie up if I could avoid it.”

Another person who affected Dan early in his career was Mike Messsere. Yes, the famed West Genesee lacrosse coach taught Dan Hunt modified wrestling! Mike actually wrestled for West Genesee in high school. A county champ at around one hundred fifty pounds he went to Cortland College with intent of becoming a teacher and wrestling coach.

“I coached lacrosse and wrestling. At one time I really desired to head up the West Genesee program, but the opportunity never arrived. I wrestled for a while in college, but my knee was hurt and I couldn’t take the wear and tear of college wrestling. When I coached the modified wrestling I knew Leo Johnson, another Cortland alumni. There we went to clinics, ran camps, and really pushed to excel wrestling in central New York.”

“When did you meet Dan and when did you notice him as a special athlete?”

“I was his gym teacher and knew right off this guy was something. I immediately steered him to wrestling. It didn’t matter, he would be good at any sport he participated in.”

“As his modified coach what stood out?”

“His strength and speed. He wanted to learn wrestling. He practiced hard all the time. He went to camps and learned. Dan also had great balance which is something every wrestler needs. It probably didn’t hurt him doing all those handstands! Dan also played varsity lacrosse for three years at West Genesee. He was on a tough team which dethroned Lafayette back in the seventies.”

“You had many great matches in your high school career. Do any stand out to you?”

“My last state championship that I won 3-0. Looking back I probably could have received the M.O.W. with that being the fires three-time state champ. I probably wrestled a bit conservatively to insure that championship.”

“How about that famous tie on your record with Randy Gillette? Did you see that match coming?”

“No, I did not expect to wrestle him that night. I just went in that night expecting a routine match. He showed up and weighed in at one hundred nineteen. It was a tough match. Randy went on to win the state at one hundred twenty-six that year.”

“Is there anyone who you disliked or was an extreme rival?”

“No not really. One time I had a pretty well publicized hernia operation. The opponent on my first match back ran a figure four on me. I didn’t appreciate it. But that’s competition. Well, he rode it for most of period. The next period I pinned him. That was that.”

“Do you remember the name Lou Rosati?“

Dan laughed, “My freshman year.”

Lou wrestled for Liverpool and was matched up against Dan as an unknown freshman in the beginning of the season.

“Did you ever hear of Dan Hunt before that match?”

“No, I was a junior and he was a freshman. To me it was just another match. I did hear people in the stands saying he was going to kill me. I didn’t know why. I weighed in at one hundred nineteen. He shot in on me with a double leg and took me down. He was very strong. I ended up winning 5-2. He didn’t have his reputation yet.”

Dan actually stared off his wrestling career at 0-3. One loss was to Pat Green of Cicero. The other loss was to the eventual Windsor Tournament champion. It didn’t seem to discourage him. His varsity coach Carl Reistrom would agree.

“Dan was as coachable as could be. He never argued with any decision. He actually was encouraged to go one hundred twelve that freshman year. He wanted to wrestle up and give up weight for a better competition. He always pushed in practice. He never ever went easy in practice. His family always supported him. I remember a Hunt family section at the War Memorial. Dan was never a problem of any kind. Even later in his last seasons, he would stay and help the modified kids.”

“Dan, how about one of those tough matches?”

“Well, I wrestle John Janiak one year in the counties. I beat him in overtime. To tell you the truth, I was glad he went back up in the sectionals. I don’t think I could have beaten him twice in a row John later became a runner-up in the states.”

“Now for today’s wrestling, what do you think about the wrestlers getting fifty matches in a season?”

‘It’s good. It gives more opportunities to wrestle.”

“You know a lot of those fifty match seasons wrestlers receive quite a few forfeits. What do you think about that?”

“Well, that’s too bad. I don’t really remember receiving a forfeit.”

“You wrestled three years in a row at one hundred nineteen. How about that and how did you do it?”

‘Hard, hard, work, especially in my senior year. My dieting always started on Sunday. Say the matches were on Tuesday and Thursday. Sunday I would start running. I probably weighed around one hundred thirty-seven. Then I would eat smart and practice hard. I would run in the morning and after practice. Tuesday I would make weight and then maintain it.”

“If you coached today’s wrestlers, what would you teach?”

“First I would impress that life is not about sports. Sports however, teaches you about life. From there I would teach basics, basics, basics. Repetitive drilling is how you become successful.”

“How about Peewees?”

“Remember to keep it fun”

“What has wrestling taught you?”

“The value of hard work. The value of discipline, perseverance, and respect.”

“Any secrets of Dan Hunt wrestling?”

With a smile Dan answered, “Every match I ever wrestled I did this. With weigh-ins in the evening I prepared the same thing every match of my career. I mixed powdered chocolate and milk into a quart container, then I made a tuna sandwich. The only match I ever missed this routine was the tie with Randy Gillette! Now you know why that happened!”

If we wish our kids to be as great as Dan Hunt here’s what to do: teach them the basics, drill with repetition, give them plenty of chocolate milk and tuna, and then sign them up for gymnastics!

Remember, it’s not a game, it’s Dan Hunt and it’s wrestling!