Jason Quirk is not your average high school student. Sure he goes to class and plays after-school sports, but he also does something not many high school kids have any intention of doing.

Jason Quirk is a boxer. And he’s a good one. He recently won the Northeast Regional Championship and the Most Outstanding Boxer award in the novice class at the Portland Boxing Club.

“I was pretty stoked to win at the tournament,” Quirk said, “Especially when I got the most outstanding boxer award.”

So how does a 17 year-old get into boxing in the first place?

“I asked my dad about boxing when I was in seventh grade and I heard about Portland Boxing Club,” he said. “And I decided to check it out one day. I’ve been boxing for a year and a half now.”

In that time Quirk has fought six bouts. He has won them all, culminating with three wins in the Northeast Championships.

Quirk won his initial bout in the Sister City Challenge Cup in Oregon when he defeated John Jackson. And he picked up his second win with a unanimous decision over Jared Rideout of Dover, Maine.

Quirk, who also plays football and hockey at Scarborough High School, was well on his way to a very good tournament when the Northeast Championships got going. Quirk’s first fight in the tourney was against Tyler LeBlanc from Nashua, N.H. Quirk won that fight 46 seconds into the third round.

“In the first fight (of the tournament) I fought a guy the same weight as me and I knocked him out with a body punch,” said Quirk.

In the next round of the tournament, Quirk faced a formidable opponent – 23 year-old Justin Parker of Berwick. He was bigger and older, but the younger Quirk was not fazed.

“I fought a 23-year-old who was way bigger than me,” said Quirk. I won that fight by unanimous decision.”

That set up the Novice Class Welterweight championship bout against 28 year-old Colter Kuss.

“I ended up fighting a guy bigger than me, he was 28,” Quirk said. “In the first round I got a couple punches in and his face bled. At the end of the first round his face was all bloody. I dropped him in the second round and then in the third, the doctor stopped the fight.”

That win gave Quirk the regional championship and his performances were enough to have him named the most outstanding boxer in the novice class.

Quirk isn’t bothered by fighting against boxers who are older and bigger than he is.

“I don’t get too nervous,” he said. “I always spar with guys that are bigger than me. I just look at it like I’m sparring.”

So how does Quirk find the time to go to school, play high school sports and box?

“I pretty much don’t do anything but train,” he said. “After football practice I go train and then after training I attempt to do some homework.”

Quirk’s progression through the tournament brought out a host of supporters. Everyone from teachers, coaches, teammates and friends cheered him on from ringside.

“It was nerve-wracking at first because I’d never fought in front of my friends before,” Quirk said. “Now it helps me. I like hearing them cheer my name. It pumps me up.”

Also in the audience is his mother. At first she wasn’t so sure about having her son boxing, but now she is very supportive.

“At first my mother was not too fond of it,” said Quirk. “The first time she came to watch, my nose bled. But she likes it now.”

Quirk is planning to attend college locally and says he would like to continue his training at Portland Boxing Club. He says the training he gets from Bobby Russo at the club is top-notch.

“The training is phenomenal,” Quirk says. “(Russo) likes to have us spar a lot, especially before a fight. He likes us to stay in boxing mode. Then we get the day before a fight off to rest. He is one of the best trainers around. I have so much respect for him.”

Right now, Quirk is working on finishing up his senior year at Scarborough and getting ready for the high school hockey season.

“I’m excited,” he says. “I think we should be good. We have 13 returning seniors who have played since they were freshman and sophomores. We have a lot of experience.”

Quirk says he may like to box for the United States in the Olympics some day. But for now he isn’t dwelling on that possibility.

“I would definitely like to (be an Olympian),” he said. “But right now I’m a novice and I’m just taking it one step at a time. But it is definitely something I’d like to do.”

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