THE 2021-22 Wakefield High wrestling team had a terrific season complete with a Div. 3 North Sectional Championship and a 3rd-place finish at the D3 State Tournament. (Wakefield Wrestling Photo)
State champion Ickes wins two matches at All-States
FITCHBURG — The Wakefield High wrestling team traveled to Game On in Fitchburg Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 for the Div. 3 State Tournament following their impressive Div. 3 North Sectional championship the weekend prior.
The Warriors had 11 wrestlers qualify for states. The exciting two-day tournament featured seven Warriors who placed, led by Nathan Ickes who was state champion in the heavyweight division and Nick Roberto who got 2nd in the 145 division.
Wakefield ended the day 3rd overall with 102.5 points, agonizingly close to state champion Melrose (104) and 2nd place Tewksbury (103) two teams that Wakefield beat for the title at North Sectionals.
“Our philosophy was we wanted to individually place our wrestlers in the best position for each of them to succeed and hopefully the team totals would take care of themselves. They almost did,” said Wakefield head coach Ross Ickes. “Of course, we wanted to be state champs but overall, it was a good tournament.”
And certainly a competitive one.
Melrose didn’t have any individual state champs. In fact, the only team with two individual champs was Pembroke who finished 9th overall with 66 points.
Of course, that proves the importance of depth in postseason tournaments. The Red Raiders and Warriors both had five wrestlers place from 2nd through 5th. Melrose had the edge by having two 2nd place finishes along with a 3rd and a 4th. Wakefield didn’t have any 3rd’s or 4th’s. They had three 5th place finishes from Joe Lamonica (195), Luke Ickes (182) and Zach Arria (152).
Nathan Ickes went 4-0 with four decisions on his way to a state title with a plenty proud father and coach looking on.
“He was great. There’s not much margin for error as a heavyweight,” said Ross Ickes referencing the fact that Nathan Ickes had to battle for decisions in each bout.
The top-ranked wrestler in the division, Ickes started his quest with a 4-0 decision over Bristol-Plymouth’s James McDonough. It took six periods in a tough matchup against Tri County’s Bret Mathews but an escape and a takedown in the 6th broke a 2-2 tie as Ickes went on to win 5-3. The senior was more inspired than tired after that bout beating 4th-ranked Peter Stanwood of Duxbury by a 7-2 decision. He finished his title run against familiar foe Braden Marceau of Melrose. Ickes fot 2 points for a takedown in the 1st and added one more on an escape in the 3rd to finish with a 3-1 decision.
Fourth-ranked Roberto cruised through three bouts to set up a finals matchup against No. 2 Matt Parmenter of Pembroke. A 2nd period reversal gave Roberto a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd but Parmenter pulled off an escape and a takedown to edge Roberto by a 4-2 decision.
Roberto had already gotten the attention of the fans by that point with his first round pin in 1:11 over Hampshire’s Adin Clifford, a 12-5 decision over Wayland’s Finn O’Driscoll in the quarterfinals and a 22-5 Technical Fall against Norton’s Anthony Tripolone in the semifinals.
“He was dominant on his way to the finals,” said Ickes.
Arria, the 15th ranked wrestling at 152, got into a groove of his own after falling to eventual state champion Joseph Tully in the first round. Arria responded with a pin in 1:43 over Michael Devoti of Mount Everett, a 14-8 decision over Steve Fogarty of Melrose and pin in 5:14 against Scituate’s David Murphy. Arria finished his day on a great note with a 12-9 decision over Daniel Magiera of East Longmeadow.
Tommy Grover was another Warrior out greatly out-wrestled his division’s expectations. Ranked 13th, Grover started with an upset, beating 4th-ranked Own Brennan of Taconic by a an 11-4 decision. Grover went 2-2 the rest of the way with wins over Matthew Small of Smith Voke (10-2 MD) and Antonio Goncalves of Ludlow (11-3 MD).
“Zach and Tommy to place at states was huge,” said Ickes.
Luke Ickes had a strong day in always tough 182 bracket, going 4-2 to get his 5th place finish. Ranked 9th, Ickes beat 8th seed Alan Misenheimer of Hampden Charter East by a pin in 1:20. He put up a great fight against eventual champion Matthew Gillis of Ashland before finally falling via pin in 5:10. Ickes responded by winning two of his final three bouts of the day with wins over Burlington’s Marcus Tucci (4-1 DEC), Southwick’s Evan Cruz (6-2 DEC) in addition to a forfeit win.
Lamonica also went 4-2 to get 5th, crushing his rank of 12th. He pinned No. 8 Carlos Thomas of Carver in 1:37 and later went on to beat Ashland’s Peter Gigliotti (DEC, 8-6), Tri-County’s Conner Jackson (F, 5:06) and Frontier’s Jake Mattson (DEC, 6-5).
“He started the season 3-9 so to get 5th at states and to win a match at All-States says a lot,” said Ickes.
Wakefield’s final place winner was Gavin Bayers who took 7th at 113. He went 3-2 overall with wins over West Dews of Taconic (DEC, 8-5), Ben Barrasso of Tewksbury (DEC, 17-10) and Colton Morris of Duxbury (F, :57).
Andrew Valley (1-2 at 126), Bryan Fabbri (1-2 at 120), Sean Callanan (160) and Theo Valenti (1-2 at 170) were the other Warriors who qualified for and competed at states.
Wakefield had seven qualify for All-States last weekend and five wrestled as Roberto and Luke Ickes couldn’t compete due to injuries.
Nathan Ickes took 8th overall in the state and qualified for New England’s as an alternate. Ickes had two victories at All-States over Justyce Hathaway of Saint John’s (4-1 DEC) and Joao Pedro Pires of Framingham (2-1 DEC).
Lamonica’s pin in 4:50 at 195 over Frontier’s Jake Mattson featured Wakefield’s other victory, which as coach Ickes noted, is a big victory for a sophomore.
Bayers competed at 113, Grover at 132 and Arria at 152.
“Overall, it was a really good experience, especially for our younger guys,” said coach Ickes of All-States.