Huntington North High School senior Gavin Babb put pen to paper during a signing ceremony on Thursday afternoon, making official his commitment to Trine University to continue his academic, football and wrestling careers with the Thunder.
Babb shared at the signing that he was unsure if he would have the opportunity to play sports in college, so when Trine came calling, he was excited for that chance, especially given he was already interested in attending the school.
“I had been looking at it for a while, and then they offered football and wrestling and it just kind of put the icing on the cake for me to choose there,” Babb said.
A member of the Huntington North football and wrestling teams, both of Babb’s head coaches had nothing but high praise for Babb’s character and work ethic and know those characteristics will suit Babb well in college.
“His desire, determination and work ethic has made him the athlete that he is today,” said Huntington North football head coach Bob Prescott. “We will miss Gavin’s dedication and commitment to the team and program. We are grateful for the legacy that Gavin and his senior teammates left on our program.”
“Gavin is a motivated individual that cares about the team and strives for growth,” said Huntington North wrestling coach Neil Teusch. “These kind of characteristics will help him as he joins a new team and competes at the collegiate level. The wrestling program will miss most about Babbs is his reliability and his great attitude.”
Among Babb’s most notable athletic accomplishments at Huntington North was being named as a two-time Ironman Award winner with the football team, which further identified Babb’s high work ethic.
Babb agreed in recognizing his work ethic as a strength and looks forward to working hard for both programs at Trine.
“Just the ability to be able to push myself no matter what they need and be able to push myself past any limits they might need me to be able to push past,” Babb said of translating his work ethic from high school to college.”
Babb was also grateful for the attendance of friends and teammates at his signing ceremony and appreciated their support.
“It’s good to see your team and some of your friends show up to be able to actually support you,” Babb said. “Not thinking you were going to get a huge turnout, (but) ended up having a huge turnout. (It was) good to see.”
Babb will be joining fellow Huntington North senior Cam McCarver on Trine’s football team next season, as McCarver signed with the Thunder earlier this spring.
In the classroom, Babb intends to study forensic science while at Trine.