Dennis King never got a sense his former wrestler was destined for a career as a referee. But the former Central Catholic wrestling coaching legend knew whatever Eric Boucher did, he would excel at it.

“I can’t say I saw Eric doing this. He wrestled for me and coached with me and I saw he was someone who knew all the rules,” King said. “Eric has always been someone who is dedicated to whatever he puts his mind to – he was a great golfer and a state champion wrestler.

“I don’t think he was sure he wanted to come to Central Catholic in the first place. Once he got here, he decided to go all in and 20 years later, he’s still teaching at the school.”

Boucher first started thinking about going into officiating in Florida. While a student at Rollins College, Boucher was talking to some classmates about wrestling. One thing led to another and Boucher decided to join the fraternity and quickly immersed himself into officiating.

“I started doing youth matches and then my first high school match was in 2008 at North Andover. I blew a whistle, held up my arm to signal a takedown. (King) was there and he was laughing. It was definitely different,” he said.

As time went on, Boucher began making more friends in the referee community. One of those friends was Bob German, who encouraged Boucher to spread his officiating wings beyond the Bay State.

“He said if I wanted to become a better referee, it was time to find some high-level wrestling outside the area,” Boucher said. “He brought me to Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia to do matches. I was doing more than 100 matches at that time and I really developed a passion.”

It was right around that time that Boucher attended his first Division 1 college match. By the end of the night, he envisioned a future where he was in the middle of the circle doing matches at the highest collegiate level.

His first collegiate match was Bridgewater State vs. New England College. Before the event, Boucher admitted to his fellow officials that he had butterflies in his stomach and he was quickly assured it was a good thing.

“Everyone told me being nervous was a sign that I cared,” Boucher said. “I thought it was a bad thing, but I framed it as though nervousness was part of the excitement.”

Boucher worked his way up the ladder to the point where he can be seen doing some of the top Division 1 matches in the country. It isn’t unusual for Boucher to go from teaching at Central Catholic during the week to jumping on a plane to Iowa State or Oklahoma State for a major meet on the weekend. While Boucher’s rise is due in large part to his abilities as a top-flight official, he is quick to credit his family and fellow officials for allowing him to blossom.

“First of all, my wife (Hannah Johnson) is a saint,” Boucher said. “We’ve been married for more than 10 years and she’s always been very supportive. There’s been a lot of sacrifice, especially when you have three young children (Penelope, Rory and Thea). No way I could have done this without the full support of my family.

“Then I also have to thank the community of officials, all the referees in Massachusetts. I started there with them, went around to all the youth tournaments with them. They are a big part of where I am now.”

Great debate

Following the lead of the Melrose and Wakefield, Triton and Pentucket/Newburyport held their inaugural “River Rivals Great Debate” last Wednesday night at Newburyport City Hall. While Triton rolled to a 54-29 win to clinch the Cape Ann League title, everyone was thrilled with the event and plan to make it an annual experience.

Wakefield and Melrose have rotated wrestling at their respective city halls for years and the idea intrigued Triton coach Shawn McElligott.

“The coaches have told me how great the event is and how much people look forward to it,” McElligott said prior to the event.

McElligott reached out to Pentucket coach Steve Beaudoin with the idea. They approached mayor Sean Reardon, who was all in and thus the Great Debate was on.

Postseason party

The MIAA recently revealed the venues for the four-week postseason tournaments, culminating with the New Englands.

The sectionals begin on Feb. 10 at the following sites: Div. 1 North (Methuen), Div. 1 South (Taunton), Div. 1 Central/Metro (Newton South), Div. 1 West/Central (Springfield Central), Div. 2 North (Burlington), Div. 2 South (Stoughton), Div. 2 Central (Bellingham), Div. 2 West (Northbridge), Div. 3 North (Tewksbury), Div. 3 South (Foxboro), Div. 3 Central (Ashland) and Div. 3 West (Mt. Greylock).

The action resumes the following week (Feb. 16-17) with the two-day state tournament. Newton South will host the Div. 1 tournament, Algonquin will handle Div. 2 and Wakefield will be the venue for the Div. 3 states. The All-States will be contested at Salem, Feb. 23-24, with the 58th annual New England Wrestling Championship returning to the Providence Career and Technical Academy, March 1-2. The inaugural New England Girls Wrestling Championship will also take place that weekend.