On Friday nights in Inola, when the lights flip on over the Longhorns’ field, senior two-sport athlete Huston Willhite is usually easy to spot. He might line up at cornerback, split wide at receiver or slide into yet another role he has learned for the good of the team.
“I play football, and my main position is corner and receiver but overall I’ve played quarterback, safety and running back,” Willhite said. “I also wrestle, I have always wrestled. This year I wrestle at 113-pounds.” The willingness to move around the field has helped define his varsity career at Inola High School.
Willhite’s versatility has been matched by his production, leading to honors he does not take lightly. “Being named All-Conference first team and earning the Lion Heart Award,” he said, ranks as his proudest accomplishment.
For Willhite, football and wrestling have been about far more than numbers and awards. “How to treat people through emotion. How to be tough and fight through pain. How to love others and lead others in the right direction,” he said of what sports have taught him. Those lessons shape how he carries himself in the locker room, hallways and community.
The roots of that approach trace back to home. “My dad inspires me in so many ways on how to love others, lead others, spread the gospel, and just being who he is as a person,” Willhite said. “Seeing all that is my biggest inspiration.”
He also points to a former teammate, Cash Altshwager, as a model of toughness and loyalty. “He was like my brother who always stuck up for me even if it was over something he didn’t believe in,” Willhite said. “He showed me that it didn’t matter how big you were that you could succeed in any sport.”
Representing Inola is a responsibility Willhite embraces. “Showing people where I’m from and bring honor and glory to my school and my teammates,” he said is his favorite part of being a Longhorn. “To show how strong our community is.”
He credits former football and weightlifting coach Travis Peeples as his favorite teacher and leans on a favorite Bible verse, John 3:16, as his guiding advice. As his high school career winds down, Willhite makes sure to say thank you. “My mom Tiffany Willhite, Jon Willhite, Coach Travis Peeples, Coach Powell, Coach Altshwager and all my friends and family who have helped me to get to where I am,” he said.
