Providence Day wrestler aims for third state title

If Providence Day senior wrestler Amit Naik wins a state championship this year, he might want to thank his seventh grade basketball coach.

Naik tried out for the basketball team and was cut. He wasn’t willing to sit around all winter, so he picked another sport. His sixth grade gym coach was Paul Burnam, and Burnam is the head of the school’s wrestling program. Naik went out for wrestling.

“I didn’t even know what it was like,” Naik said. “I knew it was obviously a full contact sport, but I had no idea what it looked like, no idea what it felt like, no idea what it was going to be like.”

Five years later, Naik is 25-3 as a senior wrestling at 120 pounds, ranked No. 1 in his weight class by RetroRankings.com, and trying to win his third-straight N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship.

But the sport didn’t come easily to Naik.

“In seventh grade I was very, very bad,” Naik, 18, said. “I honestly don’t know why I stuck with it, but I carried on and got better.”

Naik doesn’t like to quit things. That’s part of the reason he’s still a three-sport athlete. He runs cross country in the fall, wrestles in the winter and plays golf in the spring. He’s played golf since elementary school and kept playing for the school despite devoting most of his time to wrestling.

“I had started something so I wanted to finish it,” Naik said. “I didn’t want to finish it on a low note, so I started to get good.”

Naik stayed after practice and worked on his technique. He was the starter at 114 pounds for part of the season his freshman year.

Assistant coach Tommy Racano said Naik started to understand the basic techniques that are “staples” of the Providence Day program as a freshman. When that happened, the sport clicked for him.

“Wrestling is a thinking man’s sport and Amit is a student of the sport,” Racano said. “He really has been very, kind of, analytical about it, trying to figure everything out. He works very hard, but he studies very hard in the sport as well.”

Naik started full-time for the Chargers sophomore year at 114 pounds. He had steadily improved since middle school, but the Holy Angels Invitational tournament that year was a turning point. He beat the No. 1 seed in the tournament to make the finals. He finished second.

“Ever since then I’ve been on a different level and I’ve been increasing since then,” Naik said.

Naik won the state championship that year, one of four Chargers wrestlers to win individual titles. It was the first time the program produced that many champions and Providence Day finished second as a team.

Naik, who stands 5-foot-8, moved up to the 120-pound weight class junior year. Racano thought he would be challenged more with older wrestlers. Naik won another state championship. The Chargers finished fourth as a team, even though they had just 10 wrestlers for 14 weight classes.

Balancing three sports means Naik can’t train as much as other wrestlers. He works out as often as he can and goes to camps in the summer. Naik credits head coach Terry Tadeo for helping him, especially with neutral (standing) wrestling.

Naik scores well with cradles, doesn’t get into trouble and he is a good pinner, which gives his team more points, according to Racano.

“He’s very slick on his feet, and in the wrestling world if you call someone slick, that’s a compliment,” Racano said. “He’s quick and accurate with his takedowns.”

Naik will try to win a third state championship this year, his second in the 120-pound weight class. He feels good about the way his senior season has gone, despite a few small mistakes in matches. One of his three losses was an injury default.

Naik likes the chances of this Providence Day team winning the school’s first conference and state championships.

“Right now we’ve got the best shot at a state championship in school history,” Naik said. “We have the closest thing to a full lineup and we have a really talented team.”

For private schools, fielding a full lineup is a large part of having success. The Chargers forfeit just one weight class: 106.

They’re led by seniors Naik, Ellis Glasco (160), Parker Barlow (126), Jordan Dix (195) and Alex Pourlos (220). Junior Arthur Linne wrestles at 113 pounds and junior twins Cam (138) and Tanner (132) Love have improved from last year.

Younger wrestlers look to Naik as a leader on the team, Racano said, coming to him with questions about technique, the mental aspect of wrestling and technique.

“There’s a lot of wisdom in Amit at this point because of all he’s been through already,” Racano said.

The Chargers’ quest for a first conference and state championship won’t be easy. Charlotte Latin, which has won 15 state championships – including last year’s – is also strong this year.

Naik would like a third individual championship. Racano also believes he has a chance to become the second Providence Day All-American. But Naik really wants to leave with a team title, something he said would be a “huge landmark in the Providence Day wrestling program.”

The seniors believe they can win it. Naik hopes that belief trickles down to the juniors, sophomores and freshman.

“We all have the same goal in mind: we’re not leaving without a state championship,” he said. “Hopefully we can pull it together by the end of the season.”