Penn wrestling coach Zeke Jones got more than he expected when sophomore transfer wrestler Phil Boyer showed up.
Boyer was recruited at 125 pounds; he came to the team weighing 133.
He was expected to be just another lightweight addition to an already strong team. But what Jones and Penn gained was a person whom Boyer's high-school friend Laura Cusson called "the most driven person that I know, by far," a wrestler who left the sport behind and then couldn't go on without it.
During his senior year at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, Calif., Boyer was living the dream of a high-school athlete. Captain, No. 5 in the state and recruited to wrestle for Columbia, Boyer was a big man on campus.
"Everyone knew he was a wrestler, and everyone knew he was really good," said Cusson.
But he had enough. After wrestling since fifth grade, he was burnt out and ready to live a normal college life.
Enter decision number one: Quit wrestling.
"I decided to just go to UC Santa Barbara and have a good time," Boyer said.
His parents stood behind his decision. His mom Laura McDowell-Boyer was ecstatic about the thought of not having to watch her son risk injury every day. Father Steve Boyer, a former high-school wrestler himself, suppressed any initial disappointment he had and eventually came around.
There was only one problem. Phil Boyer was not satisfied with a "normal" life.
As a high-school wrestler, "he kept making these goals - some were achievable, but he always had this big one out there," said McDowell-Boyer.
She added that he would paste his goal in his room where he could see it before he went sleep.
It's no surprise that the laid-back lifestyle he found at Santa Barbara wasn't enough for him.
It "was a great time, but I was feeling like I didn't matter like I did in high school," Boyer said. "I was another face in the crowd, so I needed to do the thing that made me feel special in high school."
Enter decision number two: Start wrestling again. Get back in shape.
At first, his parents were a little hesitant. Didn't he say he was burnt out, hanging up the boots and focusing on academics?
But he still had the desire to push himself.
"He was telling me he just didn't feel like he had enough challenges going on. He was so used to the intense focus of wrestling in school, and I think he felt like he needed to go back," McDowell-Boyer said.
Once word got out that Boyer was coming out of retirement, both Penn and Columbia pursued him. But in the end, the Lions let up, leaving Zeke Jones as the last man standing.
Enter decision number three: Transfer to Penn.
But first, he had to get back into wrestling shape.
"He got this huge packet of information in the mail from [Penn], and it was a very rigorous training schedule, and he worked really, really hard to get back into shape for wrestling," Cusson said.
Then he had to move across the country.
"I've lived in California most of my life, so I wanted to branch out and try something else," Boyer said.
Finally, he had to take on an intense academic workload combined with the commitment of a Division I sport.
With a semester at Penn under his belt, Boyer has settled into the school and the team. He has wrestled in nine bouts this year, winning five, but won't be joining the Quakers in the national tournament next month. Of course, he's using that as motivation.
"He's helping the team get ready now with the goal down the road of himself being in there someday," Jones said. "With his commitment, his hard work, the sky could be the limit."
