MIDDLEBOROUGH — Old Colony freshman and Middleboro High School wrestler Mila Boucher only had three months of wrestling experience when she started breaking records.

Competing against mostly boy wrestlers, she finished her groundbreaking season with a 26-9 record.

Boucher was the first wrestler from Old Colony to place fourth in the girls division Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship and qualify for all-states where she earned fifth place. She was also selected as one of eight members of the South Shore League All-Star Team.

As an Old Colony student, Boucher competes on a co-op team with Middleboro High School where students from both schools wrestle together.

While she is a rookie wrestler, Boucher is no stranger to high-stakes competition. Originally inspired by her father, she studied and competed in the Brazilian combat sport and self-defense system Jiu-Jitsu for the past seven years.

She tied for third place in her bracket at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Pan American Championship, the largest Jiu-Jitsu tournament in North America. 

Applying her experience from Jiu-Jitsu, Boucher started wrestling because she wanted to compete more often.

“I wanted to test myself and see if I could do it,” said Boucher. “I ended up falling really in love with the sport, almost more so [than Jiu-Jitsu], because I found that the different style of it was really fun.”

Joining a wrestling team entirely composed of male athletes was initially intimidating but Boucher was not deterred.

“It was terrifying. It was really scary at first but the team was great and everyone treated me really well, so I got really comfortable,” said Boucher.

Middleboro High School head wrestling coach Derek Seibert says she “fit in right away” with the other members of the team.

“Our team doesn’t have a ton of kids, but they’re all very close [and] it’s a very tight knit group,” said Seibert.

According to Seibert, her skills and “great work ethic” were evident from the beginning of her training.

“She came in new and she picked things up. She adapted very quickly,” said Seibert.

Boucher says she “originally wasn’t really good at wrestling” but worked to improve and found that she enjoyed the technique of wrestling.

“I really just enjoyed the whole style of it where there’s less submission, more pinning to the ground and stuff,” said Boucher.

Competing at the state wrestling tournament in her freshman year was “super exciting.”

“I knew it could really change things for me,” said Boucher.

Despite breaking a school record at the tournament, she initially felt disappointed that she didn’t place higher.

“I was kind of bummed I didn’t get third from that match but when I looked at it from afar, I was like, ‘Okay, I just took fourth in my freshman year,’ and I thought it was really cool. And especially setting a record, it felt really good,” said Boucher.

Seibert says he looks forward to seeing where Boucher’s wrestling career will take her, stating “I think she’s gonna do very well.”

“That is kind of the ultimate goal is to see if she can get to that level where she can wrestle at a higher college level,” said Seibert. “[There] is a long way to go until then but we have a very good freshman class this year with Mila and three strong freshmen.”

Looking to continue her burgeoning wrestling career, Boucher says her experience competing motivated her to improve for next season.

“I’m looking forward to being with my team again and just trying to do better next year than I did this year,” said Boucher.