Hunter Closes In on His Prey : Undefeated Westlake Senior Aims to Take Down State Wrestling Title

Billy Hunter couldn’t endure much more of the torture. He sat helplessly, unable to lend a hand to his inexperienced Westlake High wrestling teammates as they twisted, squirmed, and struggled futilely.

Hunter folded his arms, leaned back and glanced at the crowd sitting in the dim, stuffy Channel Islands gymnasium and enjoying a huge Raider lead.

Finally, he’d seen enough. Hunter stood, then paced behind Westlake’s bench. He removed his sweats and stretched. Gradually, his pace became a stalk and his glance became a cold, bitter stare. His mind churned. Gotta drive. Ride. Take it to him.

He slapped his face and arms repeatedly, until the skin turned red and numb. He looked at the scoreboard. Home 45, Visitor 6.

Hunter stormed onto the mat, circled and continued to slap himself repeatedly. He stared into his opponent’s eyes. The match was as good as over.

Takedown, pin. Thirty-five seconds. As Hunter’s hand was raised in victory, the public-address announcer cleared his throat: “The winner, Billy Hunter, Westlake.” After a pause, he added, almost apologetically, “Hunter finished second in the state last year.”

The crowd exhaled as Hunter, with as many muscles as moves, returned to Westlake’s bench. Channel Islands had secured the team victory but, once again, Hunter--who developed his outstanding skills while growing up in Oklahoma, the wrestling capital of the nation--provided the most outstanding individual performance. He had pinned his 17th opponent in 21 matches.

“He’s a good one,” Channel Islands Coach Rob Vieira said. Vieira, usually the raving, sideline-stomping sort, sat speechless as he watched Hunter. “He’s good on his feet, he’s a tough rider, he has a lot of experience. It’s tough to adjust to him in six minutes.”

Even tougher in 35 seconds. But such is a day on the mat with Billy Hunter, considered one of California’s finest wrestling prospects.

Since the meet at Channel Islands, Hunter, a senior, has improved to 26-0 with 22 pins. He was the most valuable upper-weight wrestler in tournaments at Newbury Park, Rosemead and Oxnard and in the El Camino Real Tournament of Champions, one of the biggest high school wrestling tournaments in Southern California.

“He’s the best I’ve ever had, and one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Westlake Coach Larry Stonebreaker said.

Although Stonebreaker has seen plenty of Hunter the past four years, he is tireless in his admiration for the wrestler who was ranked first in the state in the 175-pound division by a poll of coaches.

“It’s real easy to do a lot of watching,” Stonebreaker said. “You don’t have to worry about him. You can just sit back and relax.”

Stonebreaker can justify his straw-hat, lounge-in-the-hammock attitude with one quick glance at Hunter’s career record at Westlake: 113-17. Hunter was 40-3 last season and lost, 1-0, to Katella’s Joe Pastorello in the state final in the 175-pound division. Pastorello, who was 46-0 last season, was responsible for all three blemishes on Hunter’s record.

The loss was disappointing but not discouraging. Hunter’s mere presence in the title match surpassed his expectations as a junior and left him ambitious for Westlake’s first individual state title.

“Some people might relax, knowing they can probably cruise the next year, but it pushed me harder,” Hunter said.

Hunter began his drive with a three-month freestyle season that led to the Junior Nationals at the University of Northern Iowa and the Cadet Nationals at Central Missouri State. He didn’t place in the Junior Nationals but he beat state champions from Virginia, Minnesota and Texas and won the 165-pound title at the Cadet Nationals. He pinned five of six opponents.

“That was a great moment for me,” Hunter said, looking at the picture that shows him atop the winner’s podium. Hunter’s bedroom is filled with nearly 50 dusty plaques and trophies and more than 100 medals tucked away in drawers. Yet he quickly directs attention to the Cadet National memorabilia: the trophy, the picture, and the cardboard bracket of the 165-pound division that is affixed to the back of his bedroom door.

“There are a lot of great wrestlers there from all around the nation. It’s a real big deal,” he said.

Yet not half as big as the hand Hunter was preparing to deal 175-pound wrestlers across California.

His work last fall led to his rise to the top of recruiting lists across the nation. He lifted weights for at least an hour every night in his garage. He ran as many as six miles around the lake in Westlake Village. He even ran with Westlake’s cross-country team for two weeks but left when his knees began to ache.

“He’s one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever had,” Stonebreaker said. “Sometimes we have to tell him to take it easy on guys in practice. He can hurt some of them.”

That strength also follows Hunter into a classroom. He carries a 3.33 grade-point average and scored 1,120 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. His parents, Carolyn and Howard, expect nothing less. Once, when Billy wanted a part-time job, his parents informed him he already was employed.

“His job was to get good grades and do well in sports,” Carolyn said.

Hunter has completed the task and then some, and he will fulfill a family dream when he signs his name to a letter of intent at the conclusion of the season. He is interested in North Carolina State, North Carolina, William & Mary, Lehigh, and Pennsylvania. William & Mary Coach Bill Pincus, whose team is ranked among the country’s top 25 teams by a poll of coaches, says Hunter is his program’s top prospect.

“He’s good enough to wrestle anywhere in the country,” Pincus said.

“He has the skills, the size, the athleticism, and he is very bright.”

That marquee billing developed shortly after Hunter won two Oklahoma state youth wrestling titles. He was a protege of a wrestling family that included Mike Brown (cousin) and John Savage (uncle), who both wrestled for the University of Oklahoma--an NCAA power.

Hunter’s success merited the purchase of a video camera that since has provided the family with a 30-tape library. It was one of the initial investments in a career that has cost thousands of dollars in camps, travel and expenses.

The Hunters sacrificed their summer vacation last year to invest nearly $2,500 in Billy’s freestyle season. They purchased a big-screen television at Christmas, in part to watch Billy’s videotapes. The silver plate from the El Camino Real Tournament of Champions sits atop the set.

“The TV was pretty much everybody’s present,” Carolyn said.

Also, Billy has visited three schools on trips financed in part by the frequent-flier mileage his father earns as a businessman with Occidental Petroleum Co. Despite Howard’s busy travel schedule, he and Carolyn have missed only three high school matches between them.

“We’re a wrestling family,” Carolyn said. “We’ve invested more money than a scholarship will provide, but we look at this as more than a scholarship. It’s been good entertainment.”

Hunter was equally thrilling on a football field, where he was part of the restructuring of Westlake’s football program, but injuries limited his playing time and threatened his opportunity for a wrestling scholarship.

He was co-captain of the freshman football team and started both ways as a sophomore and junior.

As a sophomore, his left pinky was nearly ripped from his hand when it was caught in another player’s jersey during practice. After Hunter failed to put the finger back into its joint himself, he underwent surgery the next day and had pins inserted to keep the finger together.

Today, he is a knuckle short.

“That was like losing five players in one,” said then-sophomore Coach Dan Houghton, now at Hart.

Next season, as Hunter characteristically twisted and struggled for extra yardage against Buena, he was blind-sided and suffered an injured disk in his lower back. He never played again.

“It was real hard sitting in the stands,” Hunter said. “I kept thinking of what success I could have had out there, but I had to choose one and stick with it.”

Hunter has not looked back, nor has he been forced to. He has enjoyed enough success to please his family, which has difficulty awaiting Billy’s next mat assault.

“We do our best to take our time going to the matches,” Carolyn said with a smile. “But we definitely can’t wait too long.”

That’s because Billy’s matches usually are over before they begin. He stalks, gets those Roger Craig eyes--and that’s it. Call it a pin. Send the natives home.

“I look at it as a battle,” Hunter said. “It’s either you or the other guy, and the best man wins.”

Hunter has had that upper hand in all 26 matches this season. And he will take his burly chest and powerful legs back to Channel Islands on Saturday to defend his 175-pound title in the Marmonte League championships.

Beware of The Look; it may be as fierce as ever. He’s weary of these 35-second affairs and has state-title visions.

“This is where the real season starts for me,” Hunter said. “It’s time to get down to business.”