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Canfield gymnast signs with Michigan
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After Nick Hunter signed his letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan on scholarship as a member of the men’s gymnastics team, (left to right) his father Tim, his mother Stephanie, Hunter and his personal coach Chris Tollon accepted congratulations from the large crowd.
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As his parents, Stephanie and Tim Hunter, and his coach, Chris Tollon, look on, Nick Hunter officially signed his letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan on scholarship as a member of the men’s gymnastics team.
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Nick Hunter and his parents, Tim and Stephanie Hunter, were all smiles after Nick signed his letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan on scholarship as a member of the men’s gymnastics team.
By ABBY SLANKER
Canfield High School’s Nick Hunter will take his gymnastics skills Up North.
The senior recently signed a national letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan on scholarship as a member of the men’s gymnastics team.
After being heavily recruited by five major universities, he made the decision to join the NCAA’s defending national champion Wolverines, under one of the nation’s premier college coaches in Xiao Yuan.
A huge crowd made up of school faculty, school board members, school superintendent Dante Zambrini, Canfield High School Athletic Director Greg Cooper, friends and classmates joined Hunter’s family and personal coach, Chris Tollon, as he formalized his decision in the athletic foyer of the high school.
Hunter’s father, Tim, said his son started tumbling when he was 6.
“We were looking for something for Nick and his brother, James, to do with all their energy. He started at Youngstown Gymnastics when he was 6 and was a natural. He just fell in love with the sport,” Tim said.
Hunter has been training continuously for 12 years. Men’s gymnastics is very specialized and is a demanding, year-round sport in which Hunter has earned great success.
Competing in floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar, Hunter has achieved Level 10 status — the highest, most elite ranking.
He has qualified for state-level competition multiple times and earned trips to regional and national competitions.
While at the National Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., last August, he overcame two hand injuries to place 14th in the USA VISA Nationals while competing against the most elite gymnasts.
Hunter has been training with Tollon for the past two-and-a-half years out of Gymnastics World gym in Cleveland.
“Nick has come a long way in the past two-and-a-half years. Only 14 schools in the nation offer men’s gymnastic scholarships and I am very proud of him,” Tollon said.
After signing his letter of intent, Hunter offered his thanks to his family, friends, Coach Tollon and the Canfield Schools administration for all their support.
Hunter, the son of Tim and Stephanie, has a 3.37 GPA and is 52nd in a class of 286 and also serves as a St. John’s Church acolyte, is a member of the CHS senior class executive committee and is in the Key Club and Leo’s Club.
He also volunteers for the American Heart and Cancer associations. His older brother, James (Class of 2007), is an intercollegiate swimmer attending Brown University.
“Although Nick participates in a sport outside Canfield High School, the school is very, very proud of him. We wanted to take this opportunity to recognize his accomplishments as he goes on to his gymnastics career at Michigan,” said Greg Cooper, Canfield High School athletic director.