Perry multisport athlete earns 36 on ACT

No one needed a pick-me-up more than Ethan Hicks a handful of weeks ago.

Along those same lines, virtually no one gets the kind of pickme-up the three-sport athlete from Perry ended up getting.

Still battling the doldrums from coming up short in his quest to qualify for the Division II state wrestling tournament, Hicks trudged down the hallway outside the wrestling room when his phone dinged, signifying he had received a new email.

What he saw in the email pretty much snapped him out of his funk. It was a notification that he had scored a perfect 36 on his most recent ACT exam.

“What a cool moment,” Hicks said. “I got the email as I was walking down from the wrestling room. I was feeling pretty

Hicks down after being a match away from the state tournament. But that email — wow — what an awesome moment.”

Hicks is a highly successful, multi-sport athlete at Perry.

In the fall he is a member of the Pirates’ boys golf team, his newest sport after giving up football the previous year.

This past winter, he finished with a 22-8 record on the wrestling mat as the Pirates’ 152-pounder, though he still grouses about losing three straight matches in the district tournament — losses that kept him out of the state tournament.

This spring, he is the Pirates’ No. 2 singles player on the tennis team.

As accomplished of an athlete as he is, though, the classroom is Hicks’ strong suit. He carries a 4.43 grade-point average on an honors scale.

He’s never had a B on his report card.

Prior to scoring a 36 on his most recent ACT exam, he scored a 34 on two other attempts.