Nashua South junior wrestler Colby Spencer.

Colby Spencer may be just a junior in high school. He could go a long way in teaching the world about respect.

Saturday at the Salem Blue Devil Classic, he reached the championship match at 120 pounds and was to face Jackie Dehney of Central Catholic in Lawrence, Mass.

Jackie, as in Jacqueline, a freshman girl who had already beaten a pair of boys, including a dramatic, late third-period pin in the semis.

Just picture the scene. Anyone in the gym not wearing purple is rooting for Dehney, an accomplished club wrestler. The place is going nuts. It’s a no-win for Spencer.

And he simply took the challenge with class beyond his years, dropping a tough decision, 3-2..

We caught up with Spencer, a runner-up at 113 pounds at the Division I State Meet last year, this week after his win helped South lock up its first dual-meet win over the year against Alvirne.

OK Colby, talk about Saturday and the finals with Dehney?

“She was very good. I can’t say too much about it, just best wishes to see how she goes on the rest of the year. I just looked at her as another wrestler. I’m going to wrestle my hardest every time no matter who it is.”

So you’re saying, you are in favor of wrestling being for both boys and girls?

“Girls are coming on, and it’s going to be good for the wrestling community. It’s all love. Anybody can wrestle. It’s a great sport to get into. I can’t say enough about it.”

So three years on varsity already for you. How long have you been wrestling?

“Yes. I wrestled at 106 as a freshman, 113 last year and 120 this year. I wrestled from first through sixth grade, but then I kind of got burnt out on it. Then I came back to it as a freshman.”

Burn out is tough. What brought you back?

“My friend Aidan (Stevens) said we’re going to try to to do wrestling (as freshmen). I started back up again and I’ve loved it ever since. I did miss it. When I was younger, I went to different competitions, meeting a lot of new people. It was awesome.”

So how did you get into wrestling in the first place?

“When I was younger, I was super-energetic. My dad needed some way to get that energy out, and wrestling was the best way for me. I tried baseball, I tried everything. Wrestling really stuck with me. My dad was a wrestler in high school. He was a heavyweight, a completely different dude, but he’s the one who got me into it and I’m grateful for that every single day.”

What club do you wrestle for outside the high school season?

“I wrestle at Doughboys in Lowell.”

Anything else, sports or anything?

“I might try lacrosse in the spring and cross country in the fall. I also had a job this summer at Overlook Country Club in Hollis. I worked on the carts and did some rangering. I play a little golf, but I’m not too good.

How about in school?

“I’m an honor roll student, and I’m always trying my hardest.”

How about your favorite class?

“Video production. Right now we are doing TV and filming stuff. This week we did a PSA on texting and driving without using cars. It was really cool.”

And speaking of cool. With all the wrestling and the summer job, did you get to do anything fun this summer?

“Some friends and I went up to Wilton. We hiked like a half-mile up this river to a rope swing. That was really cool, going off the rope swing. Of course, we had a couple parents, too, to watch us and make sure we didn’t hurt ourselves.”

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