THE FIVE Warrior champions of the 21st Anthony Lisitano Memorial Tournament, pictured from left to right: Tommy Grover, Luke Ickes, Gavin Bayers, Nick Roberto and Nathan Ickes.(Wakefield Wrestling Photo)
Warriors take 2nd overall, have 5 champs for first time
By
DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — The Anthony Lisitano Memorial Tournament returned to the Charbonneau Field House on Saturday for the first time since 2019.
The 21st Lisitano Tournament featured 14 teams and 141 individual bouts with 14 champions crowned.
Wakefield finished 2nd overall as a team.
“For me, my parents, my wife, it’s a tremendous honor,” said Anthony’s brother, Al Lisitano. “One of the greatest fears of a family who loses a loved one, especially at a young age, is that they don’t get remembered. Nobody has done more than Ross (Ickes) to keep the legacy of Anthony alive not only personally but within Wakefield wrestling and for that, we are eternally grateful.”
Anthony Lisitano, Wakefield High Class of 1988, was the captain of the Warrior wrestling team for two seasons, 1986-87 and 1987-88.
“It’s just great to have this back,” said Ickes, the longtime Wakefield head coach and former teammate of Anthony’s. Ickes has often credited Anthony Lisitano as being a great mentor and the reason he and so many others fell in love with wrestling at Wakefield High.
Al Lisitano, who spoke to the crowd and the wrestlers before the event, is quick to mention the pride his brother felt in being from Wakefield and getting an opportunity to compete for Wakefield High. His passion and serious dedication to the sport was somehow matched by a down-to-earth, fun-loving personality off of the mat.
“He could flip the switch,” said Al. “He loved to compete. But afterwards, hey, let’s go to McDonalds and throw down some burgers.”
That’s why the Lisitano Tournament is always a good mix of all-out, intense competition with plenty of laughs and team-building.
“For Anthony, this tournament format, it was the best day,” said Al. “That’s all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends and wrestle all day. Two day tournament? Even better. I told this to the kids today: ‘There’s no better feeling than having your name at the top of the bracket. Anthony had a few of those under his belt. It really just doesn’t get any better than that.”
Five Warriors got to experience that feeling on Saturday, the most individual champions for Wakefield in the history of the Lisitano Tournament.
Gavin Bayers was the champ at 113; Tommy Grover was victorious at 132; Nick Roberto got the crown at 145; Luke Ickes took 1st at 182 and Nathan Ickes was the champ at 285.
Additionally, 12 of Wakefield’s 14 wrestlers finished in the top 6 and 13 of the 14 won at least one match.
Three Warriors got their first career wins: Jack Hodgdon, Jimmy Fabbri and Charlie Kowal.
All five of Wakefield’s champions had to earn their crowns, especially in the championship bouts with each one being very close.
Nathan Ickes picked up two pins on his way to a championship matchup with Natanael Torres of Athol. Ickes won by an 11-2 Major Decision.
Luke Ickes had an identical path to the finals with two pins, setting up a great championship bout with a familiar foe, Arlington’s Victor Chelariu. Ickes won a close one by a 3-2 decision.
Nick Roberto took the same path, two pins creating a Finals matchup with Pentucket’s Trevor Kamuda. Roberto also held on to win a grueling bout by a 4-3 decision.
Tommy Grover needed three victories to reach the championship in a crowded 132 class. His path to the finals included a hard-earned victory over his teammate, Andrew Valley. Grover needed three minutes before pinning Valley. In the Finals, Grover beat Lexington’s Joshua Katzman by a 12-2 Major Decision.
In the 113 bracket, Bayers had two quick pins to set up his Finals bout against Justin Kelly of Shepard Hill. Bayers beat Hill by a 5-4 Decision.
Valley and Fabbri (120) earned 3rd place finishes for Wakefield. Ben Burdetsky (220) and Zach Arria (152) took 4th. Oisin Cullen (138) took 5th. Brian Fabbri (120) and Hodgdon (132) each took 6th.
The Warriors were 2nd as a team with 184 points. Methuen was 1st with 215. They only had two champions but were very deep with three 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place wrestlers.
Following Wakefield was Lincoln-Sudbury, Marblehead/Swampscott, Arlington, Greater Lawrence, Shepherd Hill, Pentucket, Reading, Athol, Lexington, Malden Catholic, Watertown and Lynnfield/North Reading.