Ronald Oliver, Jr. is young, but that doesn’t mean he is unskilled.

The 15-year-old Wareham freshman, who has been wrestling for three years, took eighth place against 16 others in his weight bracket at the Division 3 Wrestling State Finals held Feb. 19 and Feb. 20 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Oliver competes in the 138-lb. bracket. He said he first got into wrestling when he saw a flyer in the Carver library advertising the Wareham-Carver team, and was later recruited to the team by former coach Mark Stasiowscki and current coach Neil Canon. He admitted he was not quite as skilled back then as he is now, despite his martial arts background.

“I didn’t want to quit, so just kept training and progressively got better and better,” Oliver said.

Oliver said he doesn’t quite know what attracts him to wrestling, just that “it’s a great sport.”

“It’s quite hard to put your finger on,” Oliver said. “That question has always stumped me.”

In the recent competition, Oliver lost his first match against the number one-ranked wrestler from central Massachusetts, but made a strong comeback, winning his second match 15 to 9 against the third seed from the West. Oliver went on to defeat his second opponent, the number one-ranked wrestler from western Massachusetts, which brought him to day two of the Finals. Oliver lost his last two matches against Triton and Taconic, putting him in eighth place for the 138-lb. weight bracket.

His mother, Sarah Oliver, is proud of the showing her son made at the competition.

“Fifteen-year-old freshmen don’t usually get to wrestle at the varsity level,” said his mother. “I got the sense that he wasn’t expected to win any matches at the State Finals. When I got there, I could see why: there were some pretty big juniors and seniors—scary opposition.”

Oliver’s father – also a Ronald Oliver – said he is blessed to have a son like Oliver, whom he describes as a “wonderful, good-natured kid – he is very kind and helpful.”

“I enjoy watching him [compete], as well,” Oliver said. “It’s nice when you see people appreciating him the way we do.”

Overall, Oliver won 22 of his 36 total matches for the season. Though he won’t be going on to the All-State match, as sixth place was the cutoff, Oliver plans to increase his martial arts training to help with his wrestling skills.

Among his top training plans for the upcoming wrestling season will “probably be to win more often.”

“I am surprised I didn’t think of it sooner,” Oliver joked.