Whether it’s in Bulgaria or America, the Navachkov brothers have always been wrestling.
Filip and Boris Novachkov moved to California six years ago and since then have been consistently winning matches and are now ranked in the top 10 in the country for the Mustangs.
Cal Poly’s wrestling team currently ranked No. 14 in the country due in part to two Bulgarian brothers who want to compete and win in the Olympics.
“They are both good competitors,” Cal Poly head coach John Azevedo said. “If they lose, they don’t get all pissed off; they get over it quickly, move forward, determined to be better.”
Azevedo was one of the main reasons that Filip came to Cal Poly. He was originally looking at Stanford, but when he visited the Cal Poly campus, he realized he didn’t want to leave.
“When I met coach Azevedo and Matt Azevedo, his nephew, I knew I would improve my wrestling because they used to compete in smaller weight,” said Filip, who competes at 141 pounds.
Boris came to Cal Poly a year later to follow in his brother’s footsteps, but he hasn’t always been the follower. Boris was the one who wrestled first. At 9 years old, a friend invited Boris to join a wrestling club in his hometown of Radnevo, Bulgaria. Filip, involved with folk dancing at the time, soon traded dancing shoes for a singlet, and it didn’t take long for them to both realize they were good.
“I guess I like violence, I like blood. Bulgaria is close to Transylvania, you know,” Filip said laughing at himself.
When they received an opportunity to go to America, the brothers had already been wrestling freestyle for four years and were interested to see what the United States would bring them. Coming here, they soon found that Bulgarian wrestling was vastly different. Folkstyle is what the schools are required to use, meaning no dropping opponents on heads, and the point system is different.
“It was hard at first to wrestle in America, because there is no folkstyle in Bulgaria, it’s all freestyle, so we had to change the way we played,” Boris said.
They adapted quickly and soon made names for themselves while competing for Fremont High School. Boris was a two-time state champion and a two-time National Freestyle Champion, while Filip was a high school state champion and took third in nationals his senior year. College brought more competition, more chances for improvement, but also a higher risk of injury.
“I have never been seriously hurt from wrestling, but I have had a few stitches,” Filip said knocking on his head to avoid jinxing himself. “I would still wrestle, even if my legs were cut off.”
While he hasn’t had any injuries from wrestling, he’s had plenty from other sports, including a broken neck from surfing and a broken right arm that prevented him from competing in the PAC-10 tournament, a competition for West Coast schools that leads to the NCAA tournament.
The brothers found that their best wrestling partner was each other. Azevedo has seen the brothers wrestle each other and is pleased with their intensity as well as their competitiveness.
“It’s scary to watch. No one is giving each other slack,” Azevedo said. “I pray that no one gets hurt. It’s a battle.”
They train daily to earn a trip to the Olympics, but their mother doesn’t let them forget that education is important too.
“My major is industrial technology, but I have been thinking about doing a packaging minor,” Filip said. “I don’t know if I want to coach. I can’t see myself coaching kids, but maybe.”
Boris has his eyes on physical therapy or coaching a team after the Olympics, but has a harder time coming to terms with school.
“If I lived in Bulgaria, I wouldn’t go to school, I would be training for the Olympics,” Boris said. “If I don’t make the Olympics in America, I would try in Bulgaria.”
The brothers at this point are focusing on the PAC-10 championship as well as the NCAA championship, but count on the Olympics to come after school, even though Boris hopes they come sooner.
“Iowa made the world team. If I win Nationals, then I will think about the Olympics,” Boris said.