The last thing Burlington wrestling coach Paul Shvartsman wanted to be was the overbearing parent who force-fed his son into the sport he loves.

That scenario never came close to fruition.

From the moment Maximillian Shvartsman tagged along with his father to a friend’s house to watch the NCAA Wrestling Championship, it was love at first sight. Now a freshman at Burlington High, Shvartsman has been one of the better first-year wrestlers around, posting a solid 13-4 record at 106 pounds.

“I always hoped that Max would want to be around wrestling. I guess it’s easier to brainwash them when they are young,” Shvartsman said with a laugh. “I can still remember the first time I brought him with me to watch the NCAAs. I don’t know how interested he was but I can remember asking him the next day what he did and he said he watched wrestling.”

The younger Shvartsman donned his first singlet at the age of 3. There was no trepidation, no tentativeness when Maximillian trotted out there and battled against older and bigger kids from the start.

“I just loved everything about it, I wanted to be like (former Burlington stars) Kevin (Barrucci) and the Sodas (Zach and Cam),” Shvartsman said. “I liked tackling kids and being aggressive on the mat.”

As much as Shvartsman loved seeing his son enjoy the sport so much, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t guilty of overkill. He reached out to as many people as possible to learn how they coped with being the parent/coach of a wrestler.

“I talked to Brian Tildsley (whose children Sidney, James and Tayla are Herald All-Scholastics) a lot to see how he handled it,” Shvartsman said. “I remember talking to (Franklin coach) Carmine Colace and a few other coaches who had kids in the sport to see what they did.”

Once Shvartsman arrived at the high school, he was one of eight freshmen on the roster, but the only one who was the son of the coach. Balancing the role of father and coach at the same time wasn’t the easiest thing for Shvartsman.

“I think in some ways I might have been harder on Max than the others for that reason and my wife Christine reminded me of that,” Shvartsman said. “But the real reason I wanted to push my son hard is because I want him to be the best wrestler he can be.”

Maximillian is fully on board with his father’s coaching style.

“I love wrestling for my father,” he said. “He pushes me hard but I know the reason he is doing it is to make me a better wrestler and that’s what I want.”

The early returns have been promising. Shvartsman showed his potential at the demanding George Bossi Lowell Holidays, widely regarded as one of the top tournaments in New England. Shvartsman won his first three matches before losing to Owen Blair of Newtown (Connecticut) in the quarterfinals and eventually settled for eighth, thus becoming the second freshman in school history to place there.

“It can be a pretty intimidating tournament because you know all the best wrestlers are there,” Shvartsman said. “I was happy that I wrestled well and placed.”

Here and there

Manny Costa’s retirement was short-lived.

The state’s all-time winningest wrestling coach stepped down from St. John’s Prep following the 2024 season with plans to retire to Central Florida. Less than six months later, Costa was back on the mat as the head coach at South Lake High School in Groveland.

Closer to home, Central Catholic captured the Bruce Rich Invitational, scoring 253.5 points, nine more than host school Chelmsford. The tournament was named for Rich, who coached at Chelmsford for four decades and amassed 648 wins.

At the Bob Gay Invitational at Whitman-Hanson, Xaverian rode the winning effort of four champions to the team title with 206 points, nine more than runner-up Bristol-Plymouth.

It was another milestone for the LoRusso family of Saugus as Max LoRusso joined his older brother Sam in the 100-win fraternity.