By Chris Forsberg, Globe Correspondent
WELLESLEY — Rollie Peterkin has heard the story enough times that it’s become gospel to him.
As the tale goes, a neighbor saw a young Peterkin walk the length of his driveway on his hands as a youth. Impressed by the display of upper body strength, the neighbor suggested Peterkin consider wrestling.
”The only wrestling we knew about was the WWF type, “said Peterkin’s father, Roger. ”Rollie had decided he didn’t want to play soccer anymore, so after our neighbor suggested it, we found an ad for a Wellesley youth wrestling program in the local paper and brought him there to give it a shot.”
Rollie chuckles when the story is brought up.
”My dad loves to tell that story, “said Peterkin, now 18 and about to enter a postgraduate year at Blair Academy, a prep school in Blairstown, N.J., renowned for its wrestling program. ”The simple version is that I went to that first practice, loved it, and the rest is history.”
At first glance, few would peg Peterkin as an All-American athlete. He stands 5 feet 3 inches tall and didn’t reach 100 pounds until early in his high school career. But stature has never been a problem for Peterkin, who won three state titles at Wellesley High before moving on to Blair for his senior year last fall.
Peterkin returned home this summer to compete for the Team Massachusetts contingent of USA Wrestling. He and his teammates wrapped up a busy summer, traveling to Fargo, N.D., over the final week of July for the annual Junior National Championships, where Peterkin finished sixth in the tough 119-pound weight class.
In the process, Peterkin earned All-American honors for the third straight year, becoming the first Massachusetts wrestler ever to accomplish that feat, according to Team Massachusetts director Aaron Polansky.
Like Peterkin’s neighbor, Polansky knew that Peterkin had a special talent from his first glimpse. One thing he noticed was great quickness.
”I remember Rollie was only about 80 pounds soaking wet, “said Polansky, who is also the head wrestling coach at Hudson High. ”Even at that weight, he was wrestling in the 103-pound class and doing well. When you give up more than 25 percent of your own weight and still win matches, then you’ve got something real special.”
Peterkin dominated at 103 pounds during his first two years at Wellesley High. His sophomore season he won the Division 2 state and All-State crowns before moving up to 112 the following year and sweeping all the major titles, including the New England championship.
Generally shorter than his opponents, Peterkin was an instant fan favorite at events, as unfamiliar spectators often assumed he was the underdog. They soon would discover he was the Goliath to his opponents’ David.
Peterkin further endears himself with an unorthodox grappling style.
”Some coaches have tried to tinker with it, but some of the best just tell me that if it works for me, keep doing it, “said Peterkin.
So he keeps doing it and the wins keep piling up. By the end of his junior year at Wellesley, there wasn’t much left to accomplish in these parts.
”His matches were lasting 15 to 20 seconds, and that’s great if you’re trying to run up your record, but that’s not what Rollie was looking for, “said Roger Peterkin.
Rollie finished 45-1, undefeated in his weight class, as a junior at Wellesley High and decided it was time for a change. He wrapped up his senior campaign at Blair by placing second in the 112-pound weight class at the National Prep Championships at Lehigh University. He won five matches by pin fall before dropping a 6-0 decision to Bishop Lynch’s Ben Ashmore in the finals.
Peterkin’s exploits helped Blair take the team championship with a cumulative score of 396.5, nearly 200 points more than second-place Bishop Lynch.
In addition to its strong academics, Blair was ranked No. 1 in USA Today’s Super 25 year-end high school wrestling rankings for the 2004-05 season, a perch the school has held since the 2000 season. Peterkin decided to attend the school for both his senior and postgraduate years in order to hone his techniques on the mat. The extra year will also allow his body more time to develop.
”It’s really a growth year, “said Peterkin, who knows the minimum wrestling weight in college is 125 pounds. ”I want to be competitive as soon as I reach the college level, and I think this extra year will help prepare me both mentally and physically.”
For the remainder of August, however, Peterkin is taking a mental and physical vacation from wrestling.
But, truth be told, Peterkin is already thinking about the future. He is not pleased with the sixth-place finish at the USA Wrestling nationals, and he is eager to prove that he is capable of wrestling at a higher weight.
As Polansky said, ”He’s the type of wrestler who goes to an event to win and isn’t happy with anything less.”
”I’ve been taught never to be complacent, “he said. ”I’m always looking ahead to that next level. I constantly want to test the limits of my wrestling ability.”
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