Trenton’s ‘Titan’ did Down East proud
My son Michael shot us a message on our family chat. He said Will Sutton, one of his former Jones Senior High School students, was going to compete on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s TV competition “The Titan Games.” Since Will was an Eastern Region competitor, the shows featuring his competition would be late in the series. Sandra and I kept careful watch to make sure we did not miss this young man.
After watching Will’s first competition, I learned two things about the 26-year-old: he is focused, and he never quits. By the end of his first competition, Will had ascended to Mount Olympus to become the Titan to beat. He was deceivingly strong and fast. He dubbed himself “Country Strong.”
Will graduated from Jones Senior High in 2012. While a student there, he maintained a 4.6 grade point average and graduated first in his class. He is also “Country Smart.”
He had participated in baseball and basketball. He was named the JSHS Player of the Year in baseball for 2011 and 2012. During his senior season, Sutton had a .531 batting average and .766 slugging percentage. He also stole 24 bases. He had a .949 fielding percentage at short stop and a 2.28 earned run average in his appearances as pitcher.
One of his coaches wrote of him:
“Will is a very dedicated player who has not missed a practice nor a game in four years at Jones Senior, other than one practice.” Sutton missed that practice because he was participating in a school-related contest. Although the MaxPreps website did not cite the reason, my guess is he was competing in an FFA [Future Farmers of America] event.
Michael helped coach the baseball team and also was Will’s 10th grade English teacher. He told me:
“He has tremendous heart. I used to say he’d rather die than let the ball get passed him at shortstop.”
He showed that heart when he set a record after a flawless performance in the Herculean Pull during the finals of “The Titan Games.” He pulled out two 20-foot metal polls that weighed 100 pounds each from a wall and then grabbed the golden poll and tugged it until it hit the brass plate for the win. He completed this flawless performance in just 19 seconds.
Will Sutton is “Country Focused.”
Sutton teaches agriculture at Croatan High School. His 2019-2020 instructional schedule had him teaching Agricultural Science Applications, Agricultural Mechanics, and Horticulture. He is an assistant baseball coach and coaches the JV basketball team. On his school website, Sutton offers this brief bio:
“I am a graduate of North Carolina State University. I received my B.S. Degree in Agricultural Business Management with Minors in Accounting and Economics. I received my Master’s Degree in Agriculture Education from North Carolina Agriculture and Technical University in 2018. I come from a rich history of FFA and was chapter president of the Jones Senior FFA Chapter.”
In mid-May of this year, Chris Miller of the Jacksonville Daily News interviewed Will before “The Titan Games” aired. Will described the process for earning a spot in the competition. In January he first had to participate in a combine in Los Angeles. After the combine, actor and former pro wrestling superstar Dwayne Johnson hand-picked the contestants he wanted on the show.
“I got a call in September or October saying they wanted me to come down to the combine,” Will said. “When I got picked for the show, it was pretty awesome. It really is a high on the all-time great moments of my life.” The competition took place just before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Will told Miller he hopes to use his experience on “The Titan Games” as a teaching tool for his students and athletes.
“I really hope I can use this to help motivate them to be what they want to be and to go above what they see themselves doing,” Will told Miller. “I’ve always been super competitive, and I’ve always wanted to be the best at anything I did. You can achieve the dreams, but you can’t achieve them unless you try.”
Will Sutton is “Country Wise.”
I spoke to Will by phone to verify the accuracy of the content of this column. As our conversation closed, I asked, “Do you have anything else you would like me to add?”
“Just tell everyone how grateful I am for their support and their enthusiasm.”
Will Sutton is “Country Grateful.”
Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
