ROWLEY — The youngest of Mark and Margaret Boyle's three sons (Mark, 14, Luke, 13), 11-year-old John Boyle made waves at the 2010 New England Youth Wrestling Championships at Lowell High School over the weekend.
After claiming titles as the Massachusetts State and Sectional champ, John, in just his second year of competitive wrestling, placed second in the 95-pound Novice division — a division comprised of the most talented fourth- and sixth-grade wrestlers in New England.
The second-place finish earned John an invite to the premiere national youth wrestling event: the Ohio Tournament of Champions in Columbus, Ohio, on April 24.
In the final match, John and his opponent went tied, 4-4, into a sudden death overtime period. John shot in, but in his haste, was unable to secure the takedown, and gave up his back to eventual champion, Quinn Abrams of Bow, N.H.
"I was disappointed right after the match, but then I heard that the kid was really good and hasn't lost in a long time," said John. "I knew I gave him a really good match, so that cheered me up a little bit."
Equally adept at judo, John explained that wrestling may be the easier of the two sports.
"It's easier to get points in wrestling than in judo," said John. "In judo, it's mostly all standing, but in wrestling, there are many different ways to get points and to get a win."
A judo practitioner and instructor for the past 14 years, Wakefield's Jimmy Pedro of Pedro's Judo Center — and until recently, Pedro's Wrestling Club (a camp that produced six New England finalists in its inaugural year) — has known Boyle and his family since 2006, and said that the family's wealth of judo knowledge is the reason for the sudden boom of wrestling success.
"The martial art of judo is very similar to wrestling in terms of techniques and takedowns and mat wrestling," explained Pedro, whose sons, A.J. and Ricky, both placed in the New England tourney, third and fifth place, respectively. "In judo, you have to utilize their body weight to go underneath the center of gravity of other competitors. When you get that additional feel and technique from training in judo all of these years, it's that reason why our boys have been able to have instant success on the wrestling scene."
Pedro said that the triumphs of John and his brothers (and sisters, Julia and Andrea), have not been overnight and thus require a tremendous amount of drive and strength for such young athletes.
"They've trained extremely hard in judo for the past four years; they've gone to every local tournament, competing in two divisions in every event, and they take training seriously, so the cross-over has transcended into wrestling rather smoothly," said Pedro, who commended Boyle's recent youth wrestling detonation.
"It's been exceptional. There are kids who have been wrestling for four and five years now who are the same age as John who aren't placing at New Englands and not placing in the top six. To do that as a first year wrestler, it's phenomenal, and that's a tribute to John's mental toughness and his technique"
Another aspect of John is the amazing strength he wields. At 11 years of age, John is able to dead-lift 225 pounds for three repetitions, and holds the Boyle family record with 30 pull-ups — a feat his father, Mark, continually strives to overtake.
A stalwart in the Triton Youth Wrestling Program for the past six years, Georgetown's Stan Watson is well aware of John's physical strengths, but cites his intangibles, a similar cog in the Boyle gear, as being most impressive.
"He outworks everybody. He works hard in the weight room, and for his age, he's very strong, much stronger than his peers," said Watson. "When you put him in a practice room with kids who are new, he actually works with them to teach them. He will go through the techniques and even let up a little bit to allow kids to see things and learn the moves, and he's great that way. He's able to articulate to the kids so they understand how and when and what to do. And the thing is, all three of the Boyle boys are like that."
With tenor saxophone practice twice a week, wrestling practice three times a week, two days of weight-training and the usual load of Pine Grove Elementary homework, John remains rooted in the understanding that a full schedule is the most important one. And in spite of his grand success, John's modesty and honesty remains intact with the national stage looming on the horizon.
"I'm kind of nervous and excited at the same time," said John. "I'm definitely expecting a bigger crowd and higher competition, but I'm just going to practice more on my technique and try to get better all around."
