COACH LARRY Tremblay earned his 800th career win after Melrose swept the competition at the Southland Tournament in CT. He is pictured with (from left) assistant coach Eric Bubba Johnson and senior captains Alec McLaughlin, Oto Albanese, Steve Fogarty and Braden Marceau. (courtesy photo)
Coach Larry Tremblay earns 800th win
By JENNIFER GENTILE
SOUTHINGTON, CT—For the Melrose High wrestling team, the 130 miles to Southington, Connecticut was worth the trip.
The boys went the distance at the Ray Southland Memorial dual tournament last weekend, sweeping all four opponents to improve their season record to 7-0, prevailing over Newtown (CT), 40-37, Francis Maloney High (77-7) Daniel Hand High (54-0) and host Southington Memorial High, 50-27.
The occasion was even sweeter as it marked Melrose head coach Larry Tremblay’s 800th career win, and he left CT now with 801 wins under his belt.
There is no underestimating the rarity of Tremblay’s achievement. He is only the second high school coach in New England to reach such a number in his 44 years of coaching. Overall, his record stands at 801-110-5 and is climbing. He has won a total of 10 state titles (5 dual, 5 individual) and 30 league titles, many from his long career at Winchester High, but plenty here. At Melrose, he has enjoyed 72 wins and two state titles.
Looking back, there are a lot of years of achievements to reflect on in his decades of work.
“I feel old, to be honest,” Tremblay jokes. “No, I’m still having fun and the kids in Melrose are awesome. They work hard and it shows. It’s a great program.”
Last weekend was particularly gripping. Playing in a pool of 12 teams, Melrose had enjoyed wins over Francis Maloney High and Daniel Hand High but found themselves down by 2 going into the final event against Newtown and saw a key pin by Melrose sophomore Marco Albanese clinch the win against this 8th ranked team in CT state. Says Tremblay, “This was probably the best dual meet I’ve enjoyed in the 5 years of coaching here.” The wins add to others collected by Melrose this early season over competitors such as Wilmington, Wayland and Belmont.
THE MHS wrestling team brought home the trophy after sweeping the competition at the Ray Southland Memorial Dual Tournament. (courtesy photo)
Overall, Melrose remains super competitive by virtue of having many weight classes covered, plus high wrestling IQ, which including captains Oto Albanese, Steve Fogarty, Alec McLaughlin and Braden Marceau, and returning starters sophomore Mike Thomas, junior Pedro Ribeiro, juniors Nico Chiulli and Gabe Laverede, freshman Quinn Fogarty, and senior Alex Tremblay. Columbia (football) commit Braden Marceau also remains a heavyweight lock for Melrose.
Coach Tremblay takes particular pride that he has a handful of freshman starters as well. All of that talent was on display on Saturday when Melrose saw solid days from Braden Marceau, Nicol Chiulli and Oto Albanese (both unbeaten at 4-0) Steve Fogarty (3-1), Alec McLaughlin (3-1) and Pedro Ribeiro (3-1) Mike Thomas (3-1, 2 pins) and Quinn Fogarty (2 wins). Great efforts were also captured by freshmen Johnny Morares (3-1) Max Rosnov (3-1) and Luke Brodeur (2-2)
Winning state titles is become rather commonplace with this program, who started their recent dominance under the guidance of coaches James Bleiler and Tim Morris half a decade ago, before a baton was passed to Tremblay 5 years ago. Wrestling remains one of Melrose High’s most successful programs, in part because of a successful youth and middle school programs.
This season is shaping up to be another great one. Melrose is 7-0 and will face a big test this weekend: a Super Quad against Milford and Haverhill, two Div. 1 and Div. 2 standouts. After that, Melrose will focus on some ML dual meets against Lexington and Winchester. As always, be sure to pencil in Tuesday Jan. 31 for Brawl in the Hall, the annual Memorial Hall match between Melrose and Wakefield, which promises to be must-see as it often determines the Middlesex Freedom title. Says the coach, “I see the favorites in the division as Tewksbury, Ashland, Wakefield and us. We’d like to earn another league, a sectional title and hopefully qualify some wrestlers for States.”
But it’s a long season and Melrose has a lot more dual meets to come. Fans can watch them in action when they host Lexington next Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Marcoux gym.
