Saugus High graduate Sam LoRusso captures Central New England Golden Gloves championship

By Dom Nicastro

The noise inside Lowell Memorial Auditorium doesn’t just come from the crowd. It comes from decades of fighters who’ve stepped through the ropes with nothing promised but a verdict and a measure of respect. On that stage, Saugus’ Sam LoRusso earned both.

The 2024 Saugus High School graduate recently captured the 165-pound Central New England Golden Gloves championship with a 5-0 decision victory over Haverhill’s John Maher, closing out a four-week tournament in which he fought twice and left no doubt with either performance. There was no prize money attached to the win, no shortcut to the moment — just judges’ cards, raised hands and a name added to one of New England’s most enduring boxing traditions.

For those who know LoRusso’s background, the result made sense. Before he ever pulled on boxing gloves, LoRusso built his reputation on the wrestling mat. Competing for the Saugus–Peabody cooperative program at the Division 1 level, he went unbeaten in dual meets over his final two seasons and placed fourth at both the Division 1 State Championships and All-States at 157 pounds. At All-States, he defeated Division 3 state champion Adrian Guzman of Ashland, one of several examples of LoRusso breaking through on the sport’s biggest stages.

That wrestling foundation is where his relationship with coach Mike Penta of Saugus began. “Sam and my journey started long before boxing,” Penta said. “When Sam was 15, I started doing his strength and conditioning for wrestling, which led me into being one of his offseason wrestling coaches before becoming an assistant coach for Saugus/Peabody wrestling. We had gone to countless tournaments all around New England, sectionals, states, all states and finally New Englands, where he placed No. 8 at 157 pounds in 2024.”

Late in the summer and early fall of 2024, that relationship shifted sports but not approach. “Late summer/early fall of 2024, I started to coach him in boxing,” Penta said. It was then that Penta and fellow coach and Revere boxer Travis Mazac Gambardella quickly realized that LoRusso’s grit, conditioning, a will to win and the pace he brought from wrestling “was going to make him a serious issue in the boxing world.”

The transition was fast and deliberate. On March 8, 2025, LoRusso took his first bout at Peter Welch’s St. Patty’s Day Tournament and won. Ten months later, he was standing in the center of the ring at Lowell Memorial Auditorium as a Golden Gloves champion at 165 pounds “in exciting dominant fashion.”

“The kid is just an absolute dog,” Penta added. “A stud of an athlete and tough as nails. I can’t say enough good things about the kid. He just always rises to the occasion and finds a way to win, even when he’s not supposed to.”

For LoRusso, the move into boxing felt natural. “I got into boxing April of my senior year because me and Mike had a wrestling club going underneath the old Revere boxing gym, so I started training with him before wrestling, and I got into boxing because I love fighting and competing,” he said.

Since graduating, his routine has been simple and relentless. “Since I graduated, I’ve been training, going fishing and going to work,” LoRusso said.

A typical week reflects the same volume and intensity that defined his wrestling career. “Typical training week for me is boxing Monday through Friday, sometimes a Saturday session of boxing, and after or before boxing three to five times a week, depending on what we’re doing, I lift and do conditioning. I also still wrestle once or twice a week,” he said.

That work showed itself throughout the Golden Gloves tournament, particularly in the championship bout. Against Maher, LoRusso dictated the pace, stayed composed and earned a clean sweep on the judges’ cards. It’s easily Feat No. 1 in his boxing resume to date.

Penta, a Saugus wrestling alumnus himself, who has spent more than two decades in combat sports, sees the shared background as part of what makes the story resonate. “This is my 22nd year involved in combat sports, still actively competing. And my sixth-year coaching,” he said. “I think being an alumnus from the same school and having coached Sam in boxing and wrestling is what makes this so dynamic and interesting.”

LoRusso isn’t rushing what comes next. His focus remains narrow, grounded in the same discipline that carried him from the wrestling mat to the boxing ring. “I’m not positive if they have one, but I believe that there is a regional golden glove so that would be my next focus overall but not look too far ahead,” he said.

Along the way, he credits the same voices that have guided him since his early teens. “My mentors have been my coaches Mike and Travis,” LoRusso said. “As I get more into the sport, I find that drills make skills.”