Tristan Williams, who is of Jamaican descent, is The 2020 Class 3A District 12 FHSAA Wrestling Champion in the 182lb weight class. The District tournament was held on Saturday, February 22, 2020, at Park Vista High School in Lake Worth, Florida. Winning the semi-final at the District level automatically qualified him for the Regional finals to be held on February 28 and 29. Winning the final made him the District Champion! Tristan is a 17-year-old Junior who attends Olympic Heights Community High School in Boca Raton where he is a member of the Olympic Heights Lions Wrestling team. On Saturday, February 22, 2020, Tristan was one of 7 Olympic Heights champions at the District tournament, continuing Olympic Heights 17 time District Championship streak.
Prior to wrestling, Tristan studied martial arts; and, after four years of intensive study, earned his a black belt in MMA. Having accomplished this goal, Tristan was looking for a new challenge when he transferred to Olympic Heights in 2018 from Coral Springs Christian Academy. One of the members of his church youth group wrestled and Tristan thought that this would be a good sport to transition to as he moved from private to public school. So Tristan decided to take his skill in martial arts to the wrestling mat.
The first year was very difficult. Tristan started wrestling at 210lbs. The coach asked him to trim down and wrestle at the 195lb weight class. He would lose 20 pounds over two months through a low carb diet and daily exercise. He would become a Lions wrestler to earn his Varsity letter in wrestling in his first year at Olympic Heights. During the summer of 2019, however, Tristan gave himself yet another challenge. He decided to diet and exercise himself into a lower weight class. When he rejoined the team in the Fall term, he rejoined at a trim 175lbs and qualified to wrestle at the 182lb weight class. Apparently, this was the trick, because Tristan would turn his losing streak in Year 1 into a stellar record in Year 2. Tristan’s record prior to the Regionals at the end of February stood at 34 wins to 13 losses.
Tristan refers to himself as a nerdy athlete, because not only does he do well in sports, Tristan maintains a HPA over 4.0 while being in the Choice Engineering Academy at Olympic Heights. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, having been inducted in 10th grade. Tristan was formerly in the National Junior Honor Society and while at Coral Springs Christian served as the Historian for the chapter. While at Coral Springs Christian, he was also active in the International Student Club and served in 8th grade as the secretary of student government and then treasurer in the 9th grade.
Tristan is an active member of his church’s youth group where he serves as a camp counselor to the elementary school children each year. During camp, Tristan can put his skill playing the guitar and being a certified Life Guard to good use. But before the Summer, he will embark upon his second mission Trip. Each Spring Break the teens at Family Church use their Spring Break to bring the gospel to others. Last year, they were in Gainesville, and this summer, they will be in Jacksonville. Tristan is currently completing a six-week training program getting ready for this year’s trip.
While Tristan describes himself as quiet and reserved, he does enjoy spending time with his church and wrestling friends. He’s very well traveled having been to several countries in Europe and the Caribbean. Tristan’s goal is to study Biomedical Engineering after he graduates. He has a passion for helping others to replace limbs that they have lost. Once the Olympic Heights Wrestling Season ends, Tristan will continue wrestling with the Cowboy Wrestling club and compete in some National tournaments during the summer. He also plans to spend the summer doing College Tours to determine which College he wants to attend.
