STATE CHAMPION Melrose High wrestling celebrates their MIAA Div. 3 State title on Saturday, Feb. 19 at Game On in Fitchburg. (courtesy photo)
MHS wrestlers earn 3rd state title since 2017
By JENNIFER GENTILE
FITCHBURG—Update the banners, MHS—the Melrose High wrestling team are once again State Champions. The Red Raiders took first place as a team at the MIAA Div. 3 State Finals on Saturday, Feb. 19 held at Game On in Fitchburg, MA, for their second Div. 3 state title since 2020 and third since 2017. Their 104 point total narrowly edged Tewksbury, who finished second at 103. Melrose is now quickly adding to their trophy collection at Melrose High. Do we sense a dynasty here?
Much like the “Brawl in the Hall” against Wakefield earlier this month (which clinched the league title for the Red Raiders) a lot of things had to go right, and unexpected victors once again pulled through for the Red Raiders. This time it was medalists Sean Thomas (2nd in the 120) Braden Marceau (2nd in the 285) along with Shea Fogarty (third at 160), Alec McLaughlin (fourth at 132) and Oto Albanese (fifth at 145) who gave Melrose the collective points they needed for a state win. As a group, they came up at precisely the right time over the two-day event.
Marceau was particularly clutch for Melrose, wrestling in the finals against eventual champion Nate Ickes of Wakefield, whose team finished third overall. Avoiding a pin against an experienced Ickes helped Melrose cling on with 104 points for total victory. All season, depth had been Melrose’s calling card and on Saturday it paid dividends.
“This was such a great win,” said Melrose coach Larry Tremblay, who earned his second state title at Melrose, joining former coaches Jim Bleiler and Tim Morris’ 2017 historic win. “And to see it get done with second place finishes by Braden and Sean, was just great. This was strategic and preventing pins in certain weight classes has paid off all season.” And there was certainly some post-meet celebration when they departed Fitchburg. “Oh yeah—we went to Kowloon afterwards,” he chuckles. Tremblay is used to celebrating as this marks his fifth overall state title in his years between Melrose and Winchester, not including five dual meet titles. But this win was all about the players and he credited his heavyweight, Marceau, first and foremost, for helping seal victory.
“Braden is not just a great athlete, he’s a great kid,” Tremblay says. “I’ve been happy watching him get better every week. I wasn’t even sure he was going to stick with wrestling earlier this year but now he’s a state silver medalist. For him to make it to the finals is just incredible.”
Representing Melrose at the meet were Marco Albanese, Mike Thomas, Alec McLaughlin, Oto Albanese, Pedro Ribeiro, Sean Thomas, Steve Fogarty, Shea Fogarty, and Braden Marceau. The coach also pointed to the key work of his place finishers, particularly Alec McLaughlin in the 132. “Alec essentially won it for us. His work was critical. And Shea [Fogarty] did a great job coming back on day two with tons of pins, he had kids in headlocks the whole day. These two were big for us.”
When asked if another state title was expected this year for Melrose, the coach was pragmatic, as they were coming off a rather quiet performance at the MIAA North Semifinals, which Wakefield won. Tremblay says, “I thought we’d place here for sure, I wasn’t sure which position, maybe 2nd or even fourth. Coming in third at Sectionals had me wondering. But this is about teamwork and coming up big when it counts. ”
And to achieve a state title without winning a first place medal? Pretty hard to come by, and quite significant. “To be honest, it’s so rare for a high school team win a state title without having a first place finish, I’ve never seen it,” says Tremblay.
Melrose saw key wins from Sean Thomas, who beat Payton Sladeski of Frontier to get to the finals, and Braden Marceau, who beat Colton Wells of Quabbin to face Ickes in the finals. Also impressive were Alec McLaughlin, who beat opponents from Ludlow, Cohasset and Mohawk Trail before facing Duxbury’s Anthony Inello in the finals. Shea Fogarty was on a tear picking up wins against opponents from East Longmeadow, Bristol/Dighton and Tri-County. Melrose’s Oto Albanese took wins over Smith Vocational, Taconic and Franklin County to land on the podium. It was a collective effort that now punches their ticket to All States this weekend. They will be back at Game On on Saturday and Sunday to see how far they can do across all divisions. The competition will be fierce and advancing to day 2 alone will be worth celebrating.
So Melrose fans, remember this state title—it might be the only one ever clinched without a gold medal winner on the top podium. Then again, who needs small gold when you have a team championship trophy to add to the collection? In the end, this 2021-22 team focused on the work of the collective group. Or as Tremblay notes, “We coach for the team not the individual. We all pull the rope in the same direction.”