BUTLER TWP — Already a stellar wrestler and pole vaulter, Jack Codispot has found a third sport.

Wakeboarding.

The Butler sophomore has been dabbling in the sport since he was 11. He plans to enter competitions for the first time next year.

“I get a lot of practice in,” Codispot, 15, said. “My family has a camp in East Brady and I go out on the Allegheny River there two or three days a week.

“My family just got a new boat that’s more conducive to wakeboarding. It’s making a big difference in what I can do on the water.”

Wakeboarding is an off-shoot of water skiing.

The wakeboarder has his feet strapped to a single board — much shorter and wider than a water ski — and uses boat-generated waves to launch himself into the air.

Codispot was 18-13 as a freshman 120-pound wrestler for the Golden Tornado last season and qualified for the WPIAL Tournament.

His personal-best in the pole vault was 12 feet, 6 inches a year ago.

Those sports comprise his winter and spring. Codispot’s summers are primarily spent on the river.

His mother credits his high school coaches for instilling discipline and patience in him. His father, Jim Codispot, drives the boat.

“The new boat definitely helps,” Jim Codispot said. “It’s got cruise control and I set it between 22 and 23 miles per hour. The consistent speed is helpful to Jack. Our old boat didn’t have cruise control.

“We can carry 3,000 more pounds of water in the boat as well. The lower the boat sinks into the water, the bigger wake it leaves behind to use.”

Jack Codispot estimates he gets 10 feet into the air. He can execute 360-degree turns and back flips. He’s tried a double back-flip, “but I haven’t mastered that yet.”

And when he falls, it stings.

“When you miss on a move, your belly smacks the water hard,” Codispot admitted. “You can face-plant ... You have to learn how to land.”

While Codispot is not alone among wakeboarders on the river — “There are a lot of kids out there doing this,” his father said — he has become a standout in the sport.

“He’s the best kid out on that water in terms of what he can do,” Jack Codispot said. “He already has an advance sponsor and he won a contest for a new wakeboard by sending in a video and pictures demonstrating what he can do.”

No wakeboard competitions exist in the immediate area. The closest one is in Ohio and the Codispot family has looked into a competition in Georgia.

Codispot said he began water skiing at age 8.

Since switching to wakeboarding three years later, “all I’ve been working on is improving.”

There are beginner, intermediate, advanced and professional wakeboarding competitions.

Judges award points based on form, degree of difficulty and landing.

When Codispot is in the water practicing, he rarely gets tired.

“I’ll go 15 to 20 minutes at a time and take a break,” he said. “But, honestly, I could go on forever. I love this.”