THE WAKEFIELD HIGH wrestling team beat Melrose 45-27 in the 6th Brawl in the Hall on Wednesday at Memorial Hall. The Warriors won the Middlesex League title with the victory and improved to 18-1 overall on the season. Wakefield finished undefeated in the league and will now get ready for the Div. 3 North Sectional Tournament on Feb. 10 at Tewksbury High. (Courtesy Photo)

By CHARLES GAGNE

MELROSE — This past Wednesday night was the date of the long-awaited 6th Brawl in the Hall, an annual wrestling match between Wakefield and Melrose that takes place at Memorial Hall in Melrose. It is a huge tradition and many fans from both towns show up year after year to support their team and hopefully witness a ‘W’ in their favor.

At the biggest dual meet of the year, Wakefield wrestlers made sure to be locked in and ready for the moment they stepped onto the mat for warm-ups. They had been working hard all season up to this point and wanted nothing to stand in their way of a Middlesex League title. Fortunately, the hard work paid off, and the Warriors accomplished their goal of beating Melrose 45-27 and walking off with the coveted Middlesex League championship.

Wakefield started the meet at a disadvantage, forced to forfeit the 106-weight class and go down 6-0 due to a lack of anyone that fit the necessary conditions.
In the 113-weight class, sophomore Michael Barry started off round one against with good control over his opponent, Jack Shea’s upper body but got taken down toward the end of the round for a score of 2-0. He remained on the bottom throughout the round but did a good job avoiding a pin. In round two, Barry started on bottom and quickly managed a powerful reversal to tie the score 2-2. He did a nice job of keeping an offensive position for the remainder of the round so that the score remained tied. In round three, Shea was able to grab onto Barry’s leg and take him down to go up 4-2 and Barry was never able to get back up. The match ended in a decision and Melrose went up 9-0 in total points.
Moving on to the 120-weight class, Philip Valley started out with some aggressive fighting in the neutral position but got taken to the mat and gave up some back points to go down 7-0 at the end of round one. Valley did a nice job avoiding the pin in round one, but unfortunately, Michael Thomas made a smart and effective move to get Valley on his back at the start of round two and pinned him for a Melrose lead of 15-0.
Wakefield was thus down early, but 127-pound wrestler, Andrew Valley, was not phased. Team captain Valley started off round one with two dominant take downs and some back points to jump in front of Luke Brodeur 6-1. In round two, it was clear that Valley’s opponent was no match for his skill or endurance, as Valley kept earning takedown after takedown and letting Brodeur up to gain even more points, so that the score at the end of round two was 12-3. In the final round, Valley started on the bottom and grabbed Brodeur quickly for an impressive reversal and after one last takedown was finally able to force Brodeur onto his back and pin him with 34 seconds remaining. The overall score then moved to 15-6.
This sparked a turnaround for Wakefield. 

MEMORIAL HALL provided another epic backdrop to the 6th Wakefield vs. Melrose Brawl in the Hall on Wednesday night. (Photo by Raj Das, edphotos.com)

Sophomore Aydin Lamb in the 132-weight class started off by dodging a shot and taking his opponent, Johnny Moraes down, earning multiple back points in the process and ending the round with a commanding 7-1 lead. Lamb continued his round one dominance throughout the rest of the match as he managed to pick up and slam down Moraes and quickly shuffle on top of him at one point for another Wakefield pin, narrowing the gap to 15-12 and getting the Wakefield fans at Memorial Hall on their feet.
Melrose, however, desired to regain a decent lead and was able to do so next in the 138-weight class. Jimmy Fabbri was tasked with facing Melrose’s best wrestler, Marco Albanese, and after an aggressive move that almost worked but ended up backfiring, Fabbri was stuck in an unfortunate position, allowing his opponent to pin him. Melrose’s lead was then increased to 21-12.
The 144-weight class featured a long but close showdown in which Jack Hodgdon managed to come out on top. Round one ended knotted at 2-2, as Hodgdon earned a takedown, but the Melrose’s Luke Kelley countered with a reversal. Hodgdon got some early points in round two after getting up from starting on bottom and pulling off an effective takedown to lead 6-3. In round three, Hodgdon remained strong in defending his lead and understood that his job was to win his match, not to be over aggressive and risk getting pinned. He followed through and won his match 10-5 to make the overall score 21-15 Melrose.
Wakefield was then ready to get hot at the right time and ended up winning the next three matches by pins in the 150, 157 and 165 weight classes to take a commanding 12-point lead.
First was junior captain Sean Callanan, who dominated the first two rounds showing strong control in the offensive positions and earning a 7-0 lead heading into round 3. Round three started with Callanan on the bottom, but an over-aggressive Quinn Fogarty allowed Callanan to flip him over and power him down to the mat for a pin. This tied the score at 21 and the Wakefield crowd and student section showed their appreciation, adding even more inspiration for the Warriors.
Next up was sophomore Christian DiFlorio, who took an early 4 -2 lead with two takedowns, letting his opponent Declan Lippman get up after each one. However, in round two, DiFlorio decided nothing was going to stop him after he took Lippman to the mat, forced him onto his back, held him down for over 30 seconds before the pin was finally called.
Freshman star Jaden Fullerton started off his match against Ricky Texeira by grabbing his opponent’s thigh and slamming him into the mat, getting the Wakefield crowd and his Warrior teammates up on their feet. At the end of the round, Fullerton continued to showcase his strength and another takedown and some quick movement on the ground led to a commanding pin with 3 seconds left.
Wakefield gained the lead after this huge momentum swing and the score stood at 33-21. They would never give up the lead from this point forward.
The 175-weight class featured Wakefield senior captain Zach Arria against Gabe La Verde. The first round was very slow and no one really made any offensive moves. In the second round, Arria started on the bottom and was able to get up to jump in front 1-0. In round three, the opposite happened and La Verde tied up the score at 1 a piece. No one made any real move for the rest of the round, so this match was headed to sudden death overtime. In overtime, both wrestlers look gassed, but Arria managed to sprawl to avoid a Melrose shot. He then got around his opponent and on top of him to win the match. This improved Wakefield’s lead to 36-21 as Arria earned his 100th career victory in the process.
Melrose was not ready to go down without a fight and they were able to manage a pin in the 190-weight class. Wakefield wrestler Ahmed Othman kept the score close at the end of round one but appeared to injure his knee. He held his own for round two, with a very defensive mindset, but his injury caught up to him in round 3 as Pedro Ribeiro was able to pin him with 30 seconds left.
These were the last points Melrose would tally toward the overall score, as Wakefield’s final wrestlers showed everyone why they are two of the top wrestlers in the Middlesex League.
Wakefield senior captain Joe LaMonica crushed his opponent in the 215-weight class, as he started by forcing Jack Ruelle to retreat twice, then powerfully brought him to the ground and forcefully rolled him over for a round one pin in 1:13.
This win sealed the deal for Wakefield as they went up 42-27 with one match left. Heavyweight Kip King didn’t let this affect his mindset and he still stepped onto the mat ready to make a statement in this year’s Brawl in the Hall. The first round was slow and pretty evenly matched, but in rounds two and three, King outworked his opponent, Scott Santos and made all the right mental decisions, resulting in a takedown, a reversal, and ultimately, a 5-0 win at the end of round 3.
The meet score ended up being 45-27, and all Wakefield wrestlers, coaches and fans were thrilled with the impressive performance and the goal attained of winning the Middlesex League.
When asked about the big victory, head coach Ross Ickes replied, “I am very happy to get back atop the league. It’s been us and Melrose for at least the last seven years. As far as confidence goes the rest of the way, we have many goals individually and as a team and will continue to work hard every practice to try to achieve those goals.”
Wakefield looks forward to the sectionals and states meets where it will be exciting to see what this team is able to accomplish.

The Div. 3 North Sectionals will take place at Tewksbury High on Saturday, Feb. 10.