There is probably a lot Pavel Okara likes about wrestling, but expressing it in English is still a ways away.

The Mount Vernon sophomore was perfectly clear about one thing, though.

“I like to win,” he said with a smile and a thick Russian accent.

Three months into his wrestling career — and not much longer into his life in the United States — Okara did a lot more winning Saturday than anyone expected.

Okara finished third at the Northwest 3A District Tournament and advanced to this Saturday’s Class 3A Region IV Tournament in Yakima. He will be one of six Mount Vernon wrestlers at the regional.

Okara’s district showing was astounding for a couple of reasons.

He spent most of the season as the junior varsity 119-pound wrestler behind Ricarda Garcia, and only picked up the sport this year with little ability to understand the verbal instructions of coaches trying to teach him the sport.

Okara hails from Novocherkassk, Russia, a city about the size of Bellevue tucked in the southwest corner of the country. He moved to the United States with his family before this school year.

He trained previously as a gymnast, but Mount Vernon doesn’t have a gymnastics program. What drew him to wrestling is a little unclear, but what is obvious is he has taken to the sport quickly.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s very flexible,” Mount Vernon wrestling coach Doug Nelson said. “He’s got tons of potential. He uses his hips very well ... He has the ability to become a very good wrestler.”

The language barrier hasn’t been difficult to overcome.

“Wrestling is such a visual, hands-on sport,” Nelson said. “We can just show him. We use a lot of hand signals.”

Okara won two of the three junior varsity tournaments he entered this year and several times filled a vacancy at 125 pounds in the Mount Vernon varsity lineup.

Still, there was little indication he was ready for Saturday’s breakout at the district tournament.

Whether he’ll be able to repeat the performance at the next stage of the postseason remains to be seen.