A native of Goldsboro, NC, Whitmer began his wrestling career at Goldsboro High School finishing 2nd and 3rd in the state tournament. Whitmer’s high school success continued into a successful career at Appalachian State University from 1963 to 1967. A team captain at Appalachian, Whitmer was a two-time NAIA All-American, finishing 6th in 1966 and 4th in 1967. Choosing to stay in the mountains to teach and coach, Whitmer coached at Pisgah High School in 1969 before coming to Enka High School in the fall of 1970 to teach science and start a wrestling program.

From 1970 until his retirement in 2001, Whitmer built and maintained one of the state’s most dominant wrestling programs. In 1973, in just his third season, Whitmer’s team finished third in the state tournament, the first of three times his teams would accomplish this feat. In 26 seasons of coaching wrestling at Enka High, Whitmer amassed a dual meet record of 335-93-4. His teams had three undefeated dual seasons, won 13 Conference championships, five Sectional tournaments, and one Regional tournament. In addition, Whitmer coached 116 state qualifiers, 34 state place winners, and six state champions.  

For Coach Whitmer, this incredible level of success went along with a lifetime of service to amateur wrestling. During his career, Whitmer found time to serve in numerous positions of leadership within the wrestling community. His leadership roles included board positions in the US Wrestling Federation, NC USA Wrestling, and as a member of the NCHSAA Wrestling Coaches Committee. Whitmer directed eight regional tournaments at Enka High and hosted national wrestling events such as the Dixie Duals and the Southeastern Region Freestyle tournament. Whitmer is a member of the Enka High School Athletic Hall of Fame, was inducted into the Appalachian State Hall of Fame in 2019,  and received the Laurel Wreath Award, North Carolina's highest honor for athletic achievement, in 2018.