BUTLER TWP — Brian Sloboda described his young son as “always into stuff.”

“He was always a hyper kid,” Sloboda said of 5-year-old Santino. “I was kind of complaining about him to a guy at the gym and he told me 'you gotta get him into wrestling.'”

So he did.

And Santino's turned the sport into a family lifestyle.

The youngster proved aggressive on the mat and experienced suiccess almost instanteously.

Now 11 years old and in fifth grade, he has wrestled all over Pennsylvania, competed in Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky and other states. Santino recently took first place in the 12-under, 66-pound weight class at the NUWAY National Championships in Louisville.

He's also competed for Team Pa. and has helped that squad win gold medals.

“When he was five, I took Santino to a youth wrestling camp that (Butler High School coach) Scott Stoner was running,” Sloboda said. “Once he started doing it, he liked it.”

He's taken off with it, actually.

Santino attennds Butler elementary wrestling practice twice a week. He also does work with former Shaler High School great Troy Letters and belongs to a wrestling club in Evans City.

He practices virtually every day and his family travels with him to numerous competitions on weekends.

“Sometimes I get a little tired,” Santino admitted. “But I love wrestling kids from other areas and working hard to get better. I face a good opponent, I get back into it.

“I like getting new stuff to work on and practice. I'm always excited about that.”

When Santino is on a wrestling trip, his parents turn it into a family vacation.

“When we were in Louisville, we visited the Kentucky Derby, the Louisville Slugger plant, Muhammad Ali's grave ... We do things like that with the whole family when we go places,” Brian Sloboda said.

“Our daughters Chiara (14) and Luciana (8) are great about it. We all support Santino while enjoying the trips. Everybody wins.”

Santino won the Quaker Valley tournament last June. He won the Middle Atlantic Wrestling Regionals in York before finishing second in the Eastern Nationals in Salisbury, Md.

He's also placed second in the Great Lakes Wrestling Championships in Fort Wayne, Ind. All of these events have been in the past couple of years.

“Everything is an evaluation to the next level,” Stoner said. “What he's doing now is important, but it really becomes important when he hits high school age.

“Right now, it's a lot of mileage on the mini-van. Some kids do burn out ... Then there's kids like Santino whose love for the sport and desire to excel just seem to get stronger.

“Kids like him are rare. Coaches like me can't wait to see him come through the system and join our (high school) team,” Stoner added.

In the meantime, Santino's development continues.

“Last year, I learned leg defense and that's really helped me,” he said. “I've improved at starting on the bottom ... I just want to do better and better.”

Santino has gotten used to wrestling in front of a lot of people at major youth tournaments.

“When I get up higher in the bracket, I feel a little nervous before the match,” he admitted. “When (the match) starts, I'm fine. And I have a lot of energy.”

Santino's long-term wrestling goals are to wrestle for the Butler High School team and on into college.

Stoner doesn't doubt his future in the sport.

“Some of these big tournaments he does, all of that travel, a lot of kids can't handle that pressure,” Stoner said. “Santino is handling it really well.

“Brian is a good, supportive father. You have to keep your finger on it. Kids will all of a sudden burn out. But Santino keeps maturing in the sport, he's learning technique from different sources and that's given him a certain amount of confidence.

“He's soaked up a lot of knowledge,” the coach added.

And he hasn't grown tired of it yet.

Santino also competes in cross country and soccer — but leaves no doubt as to his No. 1 sport.

“I just want to be a good wrestler,” he said.