WAKEFIELD – Throughout the season, the Melrose and Tewksbury High School wrestling groups have exchanged knockouts, beating one another in twin meets and at numerous tournaments.
Last weekend Tewksbury obtained the higher hand by taking the sectional title, however on Saturday afternoon, the Red Raiders obtained their revenge by taking dwelling the Div. 3 state championship title for the second straight yr and fourth time since 2017.
All 10 Melrose wrestlers at this weekend’s two-day match at Wakefield High School positioned within the prime eight of their respective weight divisions. A yr in the past, the Red Raiders gained the title with out having a single state champion and this time that they had one. All wrestlers positioned and the workforce’s first 9 matches had been pin victories, giving Melrose 179 factors. The Redmen completed with 151.5.
“It’s a great win. Tewksbury has a great program and I knew it would be between us and them,” mentioned Melrose head coach Larry Tremblay, who gained six state championship titles. “I’m just so excited for the team. We worked hard. Our technique started kicking in towards the end of the year. Some stuff that we put in at the beginning of the season really didn’t take into effect. We’re always in good shape but sometimes our technique needs to be honed in a little bit. Today was just a really, really team effort. To bring 10 kids and place 10 ten is why we won it.”
The lone Melrose champion got here within the closing match of the day as Braden Marceau pinned Excel Academy’s Billy Sullivan on the 5:23 mark. Marceau’s teammates Michael Thomas and Alexander McLaughlin additionally competed within the finals and had been each defeated. Thomas misplaced to Abdulki Gilmore of Mahar within the 113-pound division, 4-1. Gilmore is a first-generation wrestler from Burundi, who already has over 100 wins and is only a sophomore. McLaughlin was defeated by Pathfinder’s William Burke, 6-1.
Also putting for Melrose had been Johnny Maraes (126), Steve Fogarty (152) and Nico Chiulli (182), who all positioned fourth, whereas, Luke Brodeur (106), Marco Albanese (120) and Oto Albanese (160) all completed in fifth place. Max Rosov positioned seventh within the 132-pound class.
Tewksbury despatched three to the finals with two of them successful. Freshman Nick Desisto captured the 106-pound title with a 12-7 victory over Keefe Tech’s Kevin Riberio and senior Jack Callahan grew to become a two-time state champion when he pinned Mount Everett’s Tyler Candelari on the 1:45 mark.
“This whole day I have been battling with the nerves. Most of the day it was hard to stay calm. I think it was just the pressure of keeping that state title. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s definitely been one of my driving factors, to get better (and to win again),” mentioned Callahan.
At 195 kilos, Tewksbury’s Paxton Green was pinned by Gloucester’s Michael Toppan on the 3:25 mark. Also putting for the Redmen included Hunter Johnson with a 3rd place within the 145-pound class, Jack Donovan was fourth in 138, Angelo Desisto was fifth within the 113-pound class and Manny Mengata was additionally fifth within the 220-pound division.
“Obviously we didn’t come here saying ‘let’s take second place’. But you know what? Melrose wrestled like state champions and that’s why they are state champions. They outwrestled us a bit this weekend, so my hats are off to them,” mentioned Tewksbury head coach Steve Kasprzak. “I liked the way our kids finished. We dug ourselves into a hole today and we didn’t quit. We finished this tournament. Last week we finished the sectionals losing a bunch of matches in a row and today we won a bunch in a row. It’s a little bit of a different feeling and I’m much happier with how we finished today than I was last week.”
At 120 kilos, Holliston’s Anthony Touchette gained his second straight state title with a 13-0 determination over Longmeadow’s Ryan Nero. Jacob Bettencourt of Bristol-Plymouth edged out Ariel Escalante, 6-5, to win the 132-pound battle. Hanover’s Anthony Mann additionally gained by one level beating Norwood’s Nate Hsu, 4-3 to take the 145-pound title.
Other winners included Paul Barrett (152) of Longmeadow, Carver’s Joseph Tully (160), Norton’s Gabriel Thomasson (170), Triton Regional’s Doug Aylward (182) and twin brothers Michael and Jayden Toppan of Gloucester. Michael pinned Green after which Jayden obtained two late factors on a reversal to edge out Triton’s Ashton Wonson, 6-5.
Source: www.bostonherald.com