by Jack Turner

Grigor Cholakyan is a CIF State Champion wrestler and Stanford-commit who has left his mark on St. John Bosco wrestling history with his remarkable achievements on the mat. But Grigor’s journey to becoming one of the most sought after recruits in high school wrestling began with his constant hard work, determination and perseverance off the mat. 

Grigor grew up in Burbank, California, but his parents grew up in Armenia and immigrated to the United States of America. Although Grigor did not grow up there, he still takes a lot of pride in his Armenian roots. 

Grigor’s wrestling career began at the young age of ten when he was inspired by one of his father’s best friends, Martin Berberyan, a retired Armenian wrestler who was an Armenian champion, Euro Champion, world medalist and three time Olympian.

“[Berberyan] was coaching at a sports complex where I was doing gymnastics at the time, so I stopped doing that and started wrestling,” said Grigor.

The same sports complex Grigor used to do gymnastics when he was growing up turned into the place where he would perfect his craft of wrestling and learn from his mentor, Coach Martin. 

In his natural ability for the sport and competitive spirit, it was quickly evident that Grigor possessed a talent for wrestling. His coaches recognized his potential early on and nurtured his skills, helping him develop into who he is today. 

Aside from Coach Martin, Grigor has a few more wrestlers in the sport that have continuously inspired him to pursue greatness, people who have achieved success that he can try to chase and replicate. 

“I look up to Jordan Burrows, Kyle Dake and David Taylor,” Grigor said. “They’re really good at what they do, and they’ve accomplished everything in the sport, so that just inspires me to accomplish everything that they have done.”

Grigor’s family has been nothing but supportive to him throughout his time as a student-athlete, and Grigor is always quick to give them high praise for everything they have done to put him in a position to succeed.

“My parents provide me with so many opportunities, and without them, none of this would be possible,” Grigor said. “They take me to practices, fly me across the country to compete and just are with me throughout every step of the journey.”

As Grigor progressed through the ranks, his commitment to wrestling only grew stronger. He spent countless hours grinding on his technique, refining his moves and perfecting his craft. His tireless work ethic set him apart from his peers, earning him respect and admiration within the wrestling community and leading to him being pursued by the top universities in the nation. Ultimately, Grigor signed his letter of intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Stanford University. 

Grigor has expressed nothing but gratitude for his coaches here at St. John Bosco and gives them credit for everything they’ve done to help him along the way. He recognizes how all his coaches played a role in him being the successful wrestler he is today, especially Assistant Coach Ruben Valencia. 

“My coaches have helped me succeed in so many ways, you know?” said Grigor. “Coach Ruben, obviously, he has every college coach in the country in his back pocket, and he helped me get recruited by Stanford and many other prestigious universities and overall helped me jump levels by pushing me to my limits and past my limits every single day. So I owe the world to him.”

With Grigor being a wrestler at Bosco for four years it wasn’t always an easy path to success. During his first three years at Bosco, he did not win a State Championship. Although, that all changed during his senior year. 

“My best memory was how I finished. I didn’t win any state titles my first three years, but my senior season I avenged my only loss and became a State Champion and that was a great feeling,” Grigor said.

Grigor had a dominant senior season with only one loss all year. In the State Championship match, Grigor was blessed with a rematch against the only opponent who beat him during his senior season. Grigor knew he had to avenge himself, and there was only one way he was going to go out: as a champion.

“I felt really confident going into my last match. Right before we had a champions parade – that’s what they do – so when I went there I didn’t even know who was going to be there,” said Grigor. “I was thinking just the usual, my Mom and my Dad, but when I went out I saw all my cousins, my Dad’s friends and my Mom’s friends. So when I saw them, all that was going on in my mind was I wasn’t going to lose in front of them. So going into my last match, I knew I was going to go out and get the W, and God willing, I did.”

With Grigor being a four-year varsity wrestler, he has been able to compete with his Bosco brothers throughout his time and help them out along the way.

“We’ve obviously competed together throughout our years. Not all of us got the results we wanted, but we all learned as the seasons went through how to work hard together, because in the season, we have to weigh in every week and it’s not easy,” Grigor said. “So it’s nice to have a group where we all help uplift each other through our process.”

With Grigor having such high expectations for himself, he also possesses the discipline and determination that comes with it. With his role models being so successful in the world of wrestling, Grigor has many goals for the rest of his career. 

“On the collegiate level, I definitely want to become an All-American and NCAA Division One Champion representing Stanford,” Grigor said.

But Grigor doesn’t just want his success to stop there. On top of dominating the collegiate level, he also sees himself having a professional career. 

“Beyond college, I want to win a World Championship representing the United States of America.”

Grigor has left an indelible mark on Bosco by being an elite wrestler, but even more than that by being a high character, well-respected student and person in the Brave community, which will now be supporting him through the the rest of his career and life.