A native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Wishart was educated at Westgate Collegiate & Vocational Institute and Concordia University, where he was a middle guard on the Stingers varsity football team.

He was picked up by the Edmonton Eskimos in the 1981 CFL Draft, but was cut before the beginning of the season.

[1] Wishart, a two-time All-Canadian varsity wrestler, won eight Canadian wrestling titles.

He was a Pan American Junior Wrestling Champion and claimed two gold medals for Canada at the Commonwealth Games.

[2] In 1993, Wishart was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.