WABASSO — Gary Hint, longtime Wabasso head wrestling coach and head football coach, died Thursday of cancer at the age of 78.
Hint, who was Wabasso’s first head wrestling coach until his retirement in 2017, leaves Wabasso’s wrestling program with a 49-year career record of 807-214-6. With this record, he finished as the second winningest coach in state history.
The legendary coach won the Minnesota State Coach of the Year Award twice and the Section Coach of the Year Award six times. Also in 2004 (2nd place), 2006 (4th place), 2011 (5th place) and 2016 (6th place), Wabasso and he coached Wabasso/Red Rock Central to state team tournaments. .
He was inducted into the Dave Bartelma Minnesota Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the Lifetime Achievement to Wrestling Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
Hint also served as Wabasso’s head football coach for 28 years until his final season in 1999, when he finished with a record of 113 wins and 111 losses. Hint and the Rabbits advanced to the state tournament that year and again in 1987.
Wabasso activities director Joe Kemp’s memories with Hint go back further than most people know.
“I don’t know if a lot of people know, but our families were friends.” Kemp said. “When I was three years old, I went to Disney World with the Hines and my family. So we go back a long, long way. Our family always did things together. … I ‘s father was a football assistant [coach] Because Gary and those guys came to Wabasso at about the same time. Then I wrestled for Gary and played football for Gary. ”
In the mid-’90s, Kemp served as Hint’s assistant wrestling coach and also served as Hint’s assistant football coach in 1999, when the Rabbits made their second state tournament appearance and first trip to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
After teaching at Tracy from 1998 to 2003 while living in Milroy, Kemp returned to Wabasso High School as AD, assistant wrestling coach and head football coach, with Hint volunteering to be an assistant football coach under Kemp.
“I think we went to the state tournament five times and he was always there.” Kemp said. “He saw everything, so when I asked a simple question, he was the one I trusted. We were tight. I consider him one of my best friends.”
Brothers and Wabasso wrestling greats Randy Zimmer and Dan Zimmer wrestled under Hint, with Randy Zimmer graduating in 1975.
Randy Zimmer advanced to the Region 3 tournament five times during his career at Wabasso and was a varsity wrestler as a seventh grader. His undefeated senior season was cut short just before the Region 3 tournament due to a shoulder injury.
Randy Zimmer eventually attended Worthington Community College, where he won the Minnesota State Junior College Championship. After graduating from college, he served as the head wrestling coach at Milaca High School, where he had a coaching record of 556 wins, 138 losses, and 8 draws. He was honored with the Lifetime Wrestling Achievement Award by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2019.
Randy Zimmer’s success in wrestling was due in large part to learning from tips.
“Gary was a big influence on me because I wanted to be like him.” Randy Zimmer said. “I followed him pretty closely. I went to the same junior college as him, too. [laughs]. Then I went to St. Cloud and continued to coach like he did and it was just rewarding.
“I can’t believe how long he’s been coaching. And then I went through my coaching career and ended it. I coached at Milaca High School for 37 years, and by the time I finished… he was still continuing [laughs]. … I really understand how important he was to the community and all the kids that go through it. That’s what I tried to do, but no one can keep up with Gary. ”
Dan Zimmer graduated from Wabasso in 1976 and won the Class A state championship in the 132-pound weight class, becoming the school’s first state champion. But Dan Zimmer and Hint’s past extends beyond the mat.
Before Dan Zimmer’s senior year of high school, he was expected to move to Litchfield with his family. However, not wanting to miss his senior year at Wabasso, he was invited to live with Hint.
“I moved in with him and it was a great year.” Dan Zimmer said. “Out of the goodness of his heart, it worked out. We were still laughing until the day he passed away. The odds are that a wrestler who has never competed in a state championship before will win it his senior year. How long was it? It’s strange. We still looked at each other and smiled every time we met.”
Dan Zimmer also said that Hint was respected by the athletes and brought out the best in them.
“Gary was the kind of guy that all of his athletes wanted to do good for him.” Dan Zimmer said. “He brought out the best in everyone. When he came to Wabasso, I don’t think he had any wrestling experience as far as coaching, but he probably helped build a very competitive program.” , it took three years.
“I think it was his mentality that brought out the best in all athletes. Everybody wanted to be a wrestler, everybody wanted to be on a wrestling team. That’s just the way it is. He’s great. He was a guy. Even if he was mad at you, you knew it. And you didn’t want to make him mad, so you did the best you could… He usually We brought out the best, that’s for sure.”
Kemp said Hint didn’t expect to win every time, but wanted 100 percent.
“He always had a famous quote that I used until the end of my coaching career: ‘You don’t have to win, just go out there and perform like you do every day in practice.’ It was ‘I decide whether I win or lose’.’ Kemp said. “And he treated everything that way.”
Mitchell Altermatt was one of the many Altermatts who wrestled and played soccer under Hint at Wabasso.
Altermatt wrestled under Hint from his seventh grade year in 2002 until his graduation in 2007. During that time, Altermatt wrestled with the Rabbits as a state team in 2004 (135 wins) and 2006 (145 wins). Altermatt also competed in the state individual wrestling tournament in 2005 (145) and he also competed in 2007 (160).
Altermatt also played football and went to state three times (2003, 2005, 2006) under Kemp and Hint.
Although Hint taught Altermatt a lot on the mat and on the soccer field, Altermatt said Hint cares more about how the athlete’s life goes.
“He has always been a selfless leader.” Altermatt said of Hint: “Everything he did was for the kids and he never cared about winning or losing. He cared about how you performed in life. He loved you from a young age. He was always focused on developing the individual as an individual and that was his focus.
“Winning and losing are just a part of it, and if you can perform on a sports team, that’s just a bonus. But he really cared about what kind of person you were going to be when you grew up. That’s what his That was the main focus and his number one priority.”