Sanford sophomore Sam Anderson has racked up wins and collected plenty of hardware this season, but what sets the standout apart from most young wrestlers is something that can’t be seen in the results.

“He is the most determined kid I have ever coached. I’ve coached three sports and I have coached many, many, many kids and I’ve never coached someone with more passion for what they do than Sam,” said Sanford coach Nate Smith of Anderson.

Anderson, who earned a trip to this weekend’s New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships with thirdplace finishes at Class A states and the All-State meet, has routinely put the success of his teammates ahead of his own, according to Smith.

“This season, one of the biggest things I had to do with him was calm him down because he would be at every single kids’ match, helping them out, coaching them, getting them ready and he’d wear himself out,” said Smith of his 182-pound standout. “At the Gardiner tournament he had a tough loss and he was upset about it. I had to sit him down and say, ‘look, at some point you have to be a little selfish. I’m not saying disregard your whole team, but at some point you have to look at what you need to do to accomplish for yourself because you can’t give everything to everybody else. You have to look at it as what’s my goal on the season? If my goal is winning the matches I need to win, I need to look at what I need to do for myself and then what’s left over, I’ll give to the rest of the guys.’”

Despite having to tell his sophomore standout to focus on himself more, the Sanford coach wasn’t complaining about Anderson’s team-first mindset.

“For a young guy to be that team oriented and that much of a leader, with as much charisma as he has, was very cool to see,” said Smith.

For Anderson, making the Sanford wrestling program into a powerhouse is more important than individual goals.

“I believe that Sanford is going to have a great program these next couple years and I want to set an example,” said Anderson. “We haven’t really done anything as a team in a very long time … individuals come and go, state champions happen, but my big goal is getting a team championship.” Anderson not only helps his high school teammates, but also takes time to work with the youth and middle school programs.

“I feel like going down and working with those kids and showing them what it takes to be successful at the high school level is really important. I try to get down there as much as I can,” said Anderson.

Smith was not surprised to see Anderson helping out the younger wrestlers.

“He’s told me since he was in the eighth grade, when I was first starting to work with him a little bit, that he wanted to coach when he is older and he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else but Sanford. He said, ‘I just want to make this program awesome,’” said Smith.

The Sanford coach has also seen Anderson’s leadership outside of the wrestling room.

“He comes into my classroom, I work special (education) in Sanford, and he comes in every Friday and is a peer helper with some of my kids,” said Smith. “He’s a good leader with them and helps them with social skills and brings them into the weight room and into the gym to play basketball, so it’s not just on the wrestling team, he’s a leader in school.” Smith believes Anderson’s work ethic and leadership will help elevate the Sanford program.

“I think him coming in as a sophomore and being a captain for me this young is what’s really going to fuel this team forward because they have a definite person to look up to,” said Smith.

One reason Anderson’s teammates look to him for leadership is because he has the talent to back up the talk and he leads by example. The sophomore credits Smith and the entire Sanford coaching staff with instilling that work ethic in him.

“Smitty is like my second dad. Paul (Rivard), who is one of our assistant coaches, coach (Brent) Coleman, I mean I love every single one of those guys to death. They have supported me, they always try to help me out and I know I can go to them in any situation,” said Anderson. “When I’m in the practice room, I just think about not disappointing my coaches because I know how hard they fight for us as athletes and I fight hard to do the best that I can for them.”

While the Sanford coaching staff has certainly helped Anderson grow into the athlete and person he is today, the standout has also had plenty of support at home – especially from his father, Tim.

“He always tries to help me out, he’s always there for me and he always tries to get me involved and he just pushes me to be the best that I can be and I can’t thank him enough,” said Anderson of his dad.

Smith is always happy to see his athletes have a support system at home.

“He has a very, very supportive family. It’s great to have a community, and not just Sam’s parents, but a community of parents that really came together and really care about every single kid in the program,” said Smith. “From parents bringing food to tournaments to make sure everyone got fed to parents going back-and-forth and making sure everyone’s matches got videotaped and everyone got pictures. They didn’t care who you were or if they ever met you before, they wanted to make sure this team was close-knit and was a family.”

Anderson will close out his sophomore campaign in the exact spot where he planned – New Englands.

“This year, this was the goal, just get to New Englands and I’m happy to achieve something like that,” said Anderson.

Smith was not surprised to see Anderson reach his goal.

“He’s extremely, extremely determined and goal-oriented for such a young kid. When he sets his mind to something … I totally thought it was coming,” said Smith. The standout has prepared for the New England meet by working with several of the state’s best wrestlers, including Skowhegan’s Logan Stevens, who placed second at the qualifier.

“We are like teammates now, everyone gets along and we just want to represent the state,” said Anderson of all the New England qualifiers.

Smith believes Anderson has taken advantage of the two weeks between All- States and New Englands.

“It’s been good for him. He’s gone to several different wrestling practices,” said Smith. “He got to wrestle Peter Gilman, the assistant coach over at Massabesic, so he got to see some different styles. He’s worked hard the last couple weeks and he got pushed a little bit.”

Like he has done all year, Anderson has set goals and will look to accomplish them in Providence.

“I mean the goal is simple, I want to try and not get pinned, win a couple matches,” said Anderson, who would love to end the tournament as Maine’s top finisher. “I think I want to go furthest out of all the Maine (182-pound) kids. Even though I’m the third seed representing Maine, I feel like I can do just as well as (Marshwood’s) Justin Stacy or (Skowhegan’s) Logan Stevens.”

No matter what happens on the mat, Anderson wants to make a good first impression at New Englands – not only for himself, but for his state.

“I want to just represent the state the best I can and go far into the tournament, but I’m just having fun now … I’m just going to enjoy the experience. There’s no pressure, I mean obviously I’m going to compete as hard as I can, but just be relaxed the whole time,” said Anderson, who will face John Boyle of Triton, Massachusetts in the 182-pound preliminary round tonight.

Smith believes Anderson will use this year’s New England meet as a learning experience – but next year will be a different story.

“This year, he’s not feeling any pressure. I think looking ahead to the future, he wants to get a taste of it this year, and then next year he’s bent on placing,” said Smith.

Anderson believes if he stays the course, good things will happen.

“I feel like I’ve worked hard and put in the time and I feel like I belong. I feel like I just need to keep working and try to be the best that I can be … I think I can be one of the best wrestlers around if I keep working hard and have a good work ethic,” said Anderson.

NOTES: Anderson will join Biddeford’s Chris Lantagne, Kennebunk’s Alden Shields and Massabesic’s Leo Amabile at New Englands, which starts at 5:15 p.m. today … Look for complete coverage of the New England meet in the Journal Tribune’s Saturday and Monday editions.

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.