LINCOLNVILLE, Maine — Many former successful high school wrestlers have found an avenue for extending their athletic careers through mixed martial arts.
Jack Simpkins, a former two-time individual Class B state champion while wrestling at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, has turned to a different sport to achieve that postgraduate adrenaline rush.
“I’ve watched boxing since I was about 5 years old, I always watched the big fights with my dad,” said Simpkins, who trains at Wyman’s Boxing Club in Stockton Springs.
“It just appealed to me more than MMA. I do like watching MMA but it’s too all over the place for me. I like the technique of boxing. I’ve watched a lot of Roy Jones Jr. fights and videos and I just like the feints and techniques of boxing. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
The 24-year-old carpenter, a 2009 Camden Hills graduate, has been working with veteran trainer Ken “Skeet” Wyman for about a year since taking up his new sport. In February, he was crowned the 2016 Northern New England Golden Gloves boxing champion in the 141-pound novice division.
Simpkins also was named outstanding novice boxer of the night for his performance during the show at Burlington, Vermont, which included 13 bouts in the novice (two-minute rounds) and open (three-minute rounds) divisions.
That advanced him to the New England Golden Gloves championships in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he lost by split decision in the semifinals.
“I wasn’t expecting to be that good at the [Northern New England] Gloves, I wasn’t anticipating getting outstanding fighter, and then once I got that it was kind of the opposite at the New Englands,” Simpkins said. “I kind of thought I would do good at New Englands after how well I fought the week before but it was a split decision, about as close as you can get.”
Simpkins returned to the ring for the first time since his Golden Gloves competition Saturday night, when he scored a three-round unanimous decision over Juan Perez of the Nashua, New Hampshire, PAL during an amateur boxing show at the Longley Elementary School in Lewiston.
“He was just so in control of every second of every round,” Wyman said. “He lures you in, he fakes you, he sets you up and he takes advantage of it. He just does his thing, and it’s very pleasurable to watch.”
Simpkins has adopted a demanding schedule throughout each week to balance his work with his boxing ambitions.
He rises early each weekday morning for a 5-mile run, sprints and pushups before going to work for his father, Hank, with One Stop Builders, a company that does much of its home construction and related work in the Lincolnville-Camden-Rockport area.
When the work day is done, usually around 5 p.m., there’s just enough time for Simpkins to drop his dog off at home, grab a protein drink and pack his bag before it’s off for the 30- to 40-minute drive up U.S. Route 1 to Wyman’s gym for a 90-minute workout.
By the time he returns home, it’s 8:30 p.m.
“Weekends I try to get as far away from it as possible, but I’ll usually go to the gym Saturday unless I feel like my body needs a day off,” he said. “Sometimes if we’re on a deadline for work I’ll work Saturday and if I feel all right after that I’ll still go to the gym.
“The schedule’s only been this way for a year, so we’ll see. But I’m enjoying it.”
Simpkins’ training regimen likely will lighten up somewhat after his bout in Lewiston — his first career fight in Maine — as the summer construction season shifts into high gear and work responsibilities increase.
“It’s my dad’s business and I can’t leave him hanging, so at this time of the year there’s probably going to be a little less time in the gym and more time at work,” he said. “But he’s pretty lenient with me. If he’s able to let me leave early, he’ll let me leave early for boxing, and if I have a fight coming up, he’ll make sure I don’t miss too many practices if any.”
It’s a schedule Simpkins believes has been conducive to his improvement as a boxer.
“I feel like I’m getting better every day, especially with Skeet as my coach,” Simpkins said. “I think he’s the best coach around and we work real well together. I’m just a product of his coaching.”
While the skill sets for boxing and wrestling differ greatly, Wyman believes Simpkins’ experience on the mat helps him in the ring.
“He does things that most kids at his level don’t do,” Wyman said. “It’s his instincts, it’s his willingness to pull the trigger, and that’s why he was so successful as a wrestler.”
Simpkins also finds similarities in the one-on-one nature of both sports.
“The big thing that’s in common is the timing and anticipating what’s next. You’ve always got to think one step ahead,” Simpkins said. “But it’s also the individual competition, it’s just you out there. You don’t have a team to rely on so there’s a lot more pressure than a team sport, I feel, and in that aspect I think wrestling has helped me a lot.
“But as far as technique, they’re two totally different things.”
Simpkins, now 3-2 in the early stages of his boxing career, has established modest goals for himself.
“I just like taking it one step at a time, one day at a time,” he said. “I don’t like to look too far ahead because it kind of gets me burnt out. I just try to get the most out of each day.
“I like the discipline, it keeps me in line and it keeps me in shape.”
Simpkins was joined on Saturday’s Lewiston card by a second midcoast fighter who also trains at Wyman’s gym.
Ashten Wells, a 14-year-old freshman at Searsport District High School, also scored a victory by unanimous decision in a 115-pound bout to extend her winning streak to five. Wells dropped her first amateur contest but hasn’t lost since then. Her streak includes a victory over the lone opponent to hand her a defeat.
