After all, he’s developing a knack for bringing back silver from trips overseas.

The most recent of these came two weeks ago in Pune, India, where the 16-year-old Miltonian — part of a highly-accomplished wrestling family — secured second- place honours at the Commonwealth Youth Games.

“It feels good (to earn silver). It’s very satisfying, especially since I trained 10 times harder for this one,” said the E. C. Drury 12th grader, whose preparation for the competition included more conditioning than usual and daily practices with the national team at the University of Guelph. “I was training three times a day and felt a lot more comfortable with my moves and generally more confident going in (to Commonwealth Youth Games).”

In the end it took one of the host country’s grapplers to spoil his bid for 58-kilogram gold, doing so with a first-round pin.

While high-stakes losses such as this are never easy to swallow, Moffat wasn’t too disappointed about dropping the final, given that India’s powerhouse contingent swept all seven weight classes.

“Wrestling is huge over there, it’s like second nature to those guys,” he said, referring to the country’s year-round training centre.

The local teen offered his Indian adversary a fair amount of resistance — about as much as any other finalist — but couldn’t manage any points and was taken down twice before getting pinned.

This followed two low-scoring victories, thanks in large part to his family’s trademark strong defence.

Said Moffat, “I get that from my brother (Alan).”

Admittedly overconfident in the tournament opener, he was edged 2-1 in round one before rallying to beat his New Zealand foe — a national seniors champ — with scores of 2-1 and 3-1.

Moffat used a cross-ankles turn, part of his regular repertoire, to pull ahead in the tie-breaking round, and from there fought off a turn in the final 15 seconds to cement the victory.

His defensive prowess was every bit as important in his second match, as he blanked an opponent from England 3-0, 2-0 to stamp his ticket to the final.

Another cross-ankles turn and fireman takedown were utilized to turn back his British rival and guarantee himself a second silver medal in as many international events — adding to the one he earned this summer at Cadet Pan-Am Championships in El Salvador.

One of three Canadians to secure silver and among five to medal, Moffat factored heavily into his country’s second-place finish.

His efforts weren’t the least bit surprising to Drury coach Larry Jaroslawski.

“Duncan’s made great strides over the past year, and from my experience with his brother at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Scotland a few years ago, I knew he’d be competitive.

“Training for Duncan and the other Canadians was harder than usual as our Ontario youth programs shut down in the summer. As a result, much of the training had to be done on their own. He worked hard and having to train on his own should pay dividends in the future.”