Herbert takes silver; both advance to New England’s
Published in the March 2, 2018 edition
By JENNIFER GENTILE
DANVERS—The Melrose Red Raider wrestling team enjoyed a very strong showing at the 2018 All State tournament at St. John’s prep over the weekend of Feb. 23, taking home two medals, including a gold medal earned by the defending All State Champion Hunter Adrian, who swept the field in the 106 weight class and will advance along with teammate Sean Herbert to represent Melrose at All New England’s this weekend. This is his second straight All State title and trip to New England.
Melrose placed 7th overall out of 100 teams with 55 points behind winner Chelmsford. Herbert battled for silver in the 138 weight class.
HUNTER ADRIAN retained his All-State Champion status by beating all competition in the 106 class at last weekend’s MIAA All State Final. (Donna Larsson photo)
Melrose sent five wrestlers to the event including their three state champions Adrian, Herbert, and Isaac Siede, along with senior captain Mike Calvert and qualified wrestler Steven MacIntosh, out with injury.
The sophomore Adrian enjoyed early round wins over opponents from Tewksbury, Salisbury and Dracut before advancing to finals where he battled Mike Glynn of Central Catholic and prevailed in a 10-0 decision. Adrian improves to his season to 42-0 (89-5 career) and looks to continue with more wins at New Englands. Melrose head coach James Bleiler likes his chances. “Not many can do what Hunter does. It’s just really hard to score against him. He’s a two-time All State Champ and going to Nationals twice by his sophomore year. He’s on people’s radar now. There’s no telling where he will go. I’ve seen a lot of maturity in him over a year and feel this kid can go all the way.”
Accompanying Adrian to Nationals will be Sean Herbert, who took silver in the 138. It was his bout against rival Eric Marinilli of Canton in the finals that was a must-see event on Saturday. The two remain deadlocked going into the third until a buzzer-beating escape by Marinilli ended in a shocking 1-0 win over Herbert, who beat Marinilli twice over the season. And while it was a heartbreaking finish for the sophomore, the Div. 3 State Champ can take solace that he will remain a target next season, when he is expected to defend his crown. “Sean has a lot of motivation now, watch our for him in New England’s,” says his coach.
Wrestler Isaac Seide, Div. 3 State Champ in the 182, took a win against Kyle Watts of Pembroke before falling to Andy Barrille of Brocket in a major decision. According to coach James Bleiler, Seide was battling illness and feeling its toll. “It’s not like him to give up points, so you could tell he was a little banged up a bit.”
Senior captain Mike Calvert wrapped up a terrific high school wrestling career, coming into the event as a state silver medalist. He fell to local rival Peter Gallagher of Winchester. “Mike has done so much for us this year and made a difference for us in wins.”
Overall, coach Bleiler was happy with his team’s success this year. “To come in 7th in 100 teams is something I can’t complain about. There are things we could have done a little better, but we battled injuries and saw a lot of success. I couldn’t be more proud.”
