Novachkov returned last week from Ohio where he took second place in his weight class in the 2005 Ironman Wrestling Tournament. He traveled there with three state-qualifying teammates, including his younger brother, Boris, who also walked away with a second-place prize. The tournament is considered one of the toughest in the nation.

"He lost a real close match in the finals by one point in a real controversial call. It was an infraction that nobody else in the gym could see. The crowd was booing," says team coach Erik Duus.

The second-place finish should move Novachkov up in the national rankings, where he has consistently been ranked in the top 10.

"Now he'll be No. 2," Duus says.

Novachkov is no stranger to top rankings. In his native Bulgaria he won a couple of national competitions, and in California he is ranked No. 1.

"He has a god-gifted talent," Bobby Soto says. Soto is one of the wrestling team coaches as well as an English teacher and special education teacher at Fremont. Soto met Novachkov during the student's sophomore year when Novachkov tried out for the wrestling team.

"[Filip] is so talented, so kinesthetic on the mat," Soto says. "He has a good feel for every situation whether he's tangled up with someone or driving an opponent down to the mat."

Novachkov doesn't rely solely on talent. Soto says he also puts in a lot of time, including 6 a.m. weight training sessions twice a week and wrestling practices after school.

He also has to find time to study, and everyone's helping him with that.

His coaches helped him study for the SATs.

"[One of the coaches] drove him to tutoring, he would spend some hours in my classroom after school, and Coach Duus worked with him. It was a big team effort. Of course, we do that for all of our kids," Soto says.

Novachkov says he works hard "sometimes" to carry his 4.0 average.

Soto sees an unquantifiable benefit to Novachkov's successes off the mat.

As Novachkov's grades improved over the last couple years, he set a positive example. "I'm really proud of the fact that he's able to act as model for his younger brother. Fil might not even know that he's helping out in that way," Soto says.

But when it comes to wrestling, it was actually Boris who influenced Novachkov. Boris wrestled in Bulgaria for about a year before his brother began.

"He was sneaking out of house lying to my parents about where he was going," Novachkov says.

He's not sure why Boris didn't want to tell their parents about his wrestling because they don't disapprove of the sport.

Once Novachkov got into wrestling, he approached it with determination.

"[Filip] pushes himself in the sport of wrestling, and he pushes himself in the classroom," Soto says.

In October Novachkov, 18, received a distinguished award from Fremont Union High School District Foundation for overcoming obstacles and succeeding in both academics and extracurricular activities.

He has also received a full scholarship to Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, where he plans to study electrical engineering.

"It's like the American dream. His future looks bright," says Soto.

He says he has seen a complete turnaround in Novachkov since their first meeting.

"He was really quiet, extremely introverted. You couldn't really tell what his personality was. He was really shy," Soto says. "Today he's just the opposite. He's definitely not afraid to joke around."

Novachkov also says he feels different now. He remembers feeling shy and uncomfortable speaking with people because of his lack of language fluency. Joining the wrestling team helped.

There he made friends who didn't speak his native language. Through his immersion into speaking only English with his buddies and with their help, he is now as comfortable with English as he is with Bulgarian.

"A year ago I used to think in Bulgarian; now my thoughts come in English," Novachkov says. The good grades he gets in Spanish could mean he is a natural in languages.

Novachkov came to this country with his parents and younger brother, a sophomore at Fremont. His mother was awarded a visa after winning a lottery. She now works in a beauty supply store, and Novachkov's father works in construction.

They settled in the Bay Area because they had Bulgarian friends living in Sunnyvale.

Having familiar faces nearby helped allay feelings of homesickness. Instead, Novachkov enjoyed exploring his new home.

In his free time, Novachkov enjoys playing any sport. He skateboards in the skate park, snowboards during holiday breaks and, of course, he wrestles.