Handling the Busy Life of a Three-Sport Athlete

Football, wrestling and baseball twelve months of the year. Sports all the time is how Hunter Ranweiler lives. He is a three-sport athlete here at New Ulm High School, and a very good one at that – he has been to the state tournament in both baseball and wrestling, and he is looking to add to that number this year. Hunter took fifth in the state wrestling tournament last year. Among the many records he holds in his sports of choice are most wins in a season for wrestling and most passing yards in a game in football, to name a few. To get to the level Hunter is at it takes a lot of time and effort.

The amount of time Hunter puts into his sports is a lot – he lives and breathes sports. Hunter has to balance his time during sports because he has a family and he also has school work. Hunter had this to say about the challenge: “Being in 3 sports is really nice, but it can be hectic. Basically, you have to plan things out and manage your time well.”

With being a three-sport athlete Hunter is not the only busy person around his house. Hunter’s family becomes very busy too. “The preparation, depending on the sport, can get busy! Only during wrestling season do we have to monitor the salt, fat and red meat consumption with minimal ‘treats’ around the home,” said his mother Nichole Schroeder.

Hunter is not the only three-sport athlete in his house. He has a younger brother Cole who is a freshman and does the exact same sports as Hunter. “Sometimes the events need more parent volunteers and others to set up certain events and work them also. We, as parents, have lots of work other than just watching our favorite players on the field or on the mat,” Nichole added.

Being in three different sports and playing at a high level in each requires Hunter to focus all his energy on one sport at a time. He might practice some wrestling during football and some baseball during wrestling, but not much. Kevin Briggs, head baseball coach at NUHS and assistant wrestling coach, said, “ I think it’s fair to the kid [Hunter] that we don’t look ahead, but instead focus on the task at hand.”

Hunter is now a Senior at New Ulm and he has a major choice to make on whether he will continue with sports in college. “Well, when you decide what sport to continue in college, if you decide to continue a sport, you want to continue in the sport you love to play – a sport that you could play every day and play it for the love of the sport.”

Hunter went through that process and decided to continue his baseball career at Minnesota State University-Mankato next year.