From brain cancer diagnosis to Coach of the Year: St. Michael wrestling coach Adam Hicks

BY COLIN JAMES
Reporter
colin@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 1/29/25

FAIRHOPE — St. Michael Catholic School head wresting coach Adam Hicks is fighting battles both on and off the mat.

Hicks started his coaching career six years ago, serving as an assistant …

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From brain cancer diagnosis to Coach of the Year: St. Michael wrestling coach Adam Hicks

Posted

FAIRHOPE — St. Michael Catholic School head wresting coach Adam Hicks is fighting battles both on and off the mat.


Hicks started his coaching career six years ago, serving as an assistant coach for the wrestling team at Baker High School in Mobile while also working for a private health care software company. After coaching in Mobile for four years, St. Michael started their own wrestling program. After discussions with the athletic director, Hicks was named the school's first wrestling coach in 2023.


Being the first to coach such a newly established program, Hicks had to create culture and discipline from scratch.


"One of the main principles I coach by is perseverance," Hicks said. "I feel that that's the foundation for any first-year wrestler starting out in a sport as tough as wrestling. Of course, from year one to year two, we had a drop off in the turnout. We did have basically a full roster go through hydration, sign up for the team, so things were looking good heading into the season and between injuries and other opportunities for kids to go a different direction with their winter plans. We head into week one of the season, and the kids that have been there all along have been dedicated throughout this entire season."


Shortly into his tenure as head coach, Hicks' career would take a turn that would change him and the program forever.


Around May of 2024, Hicks started to experience recurring headaches that forced him to visit the local emergency room. CT scans revealed a mass in his brain, resulting in surgery the next day. After a week of doctors and neurologists examining the tumor, it was determined that Hicks had a grade four terminal glioblastoma, brain cancer diagnosis of 12-18 months to live and has since been under a cycle of treatments including radiation and chemotherapy.


Despite his diagnosis, what keeps him going and coaching through the uncertainty is that long-preached principle of perseverance.


"In my own experience growing up in Pennsylvania, wrestling at a young age up through high school, and then also wrestling in college for four years, and just kind of embedded in me, and my mentality is, is that perseverance," Hicks said. "I wasn't always the most athletic kid or the strongest, but one thing that got me through all those college practices and meets was persevering, and that's really the main thing. We've taken a lot of losses this year as a team, only having four to five kids on the team at St. Michael, so more than wins are losses. It's really trying to just get through to some of the kids and teach them and lead by example. I felt like I'm not dead yet. I have more to give and as a result of that, you know, I think perseverance."


For his coaching efforts through his battle, Hicks was awarded Coach of the Year honors at the Baldwin County Wrestling Championships, an award he received unanimously as voted by other wrestling coaches in Baldwin County. A GoFundMe was also started last summer to support his medical battle, raising over $19,000.

Hicks said he is proud of how wrestling has grown as a sport in the area and that he is glad to be part of a community and support network that is there to help him in his battle while he coaches in the sport he loves.


"When I set out to coach in this area, that was my goal; to see the growth of the sport I grew up with and grew to love, and also taking those lessons and applying them in my own personal life, in a very personal way," Hicks said. "I just am blessed to be able to see that and be a part of the growth in lower Alabama."