Stanton takes North title; strong Melrose team places 2nd
The Melrose Red Raider wrestling team put on a strong showing at the Div 3. State Championship, including Melrose’s Mike Doucette. (Donna Larsson photo)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE – The Melrose Red Raider wrestling team had their best showing in years at the 2015 Division 3 North Sectional Final on Feb. 14 at North Reading High School. Fueled by strong performances from top to bottom Melrose completed a second place finish. As a testament to their success, Melrose head coach Jim Bleiler was named Div. 3 Head Coach of the Year.
Current State Champion Ryan Stanton is back in good form and swept his opponents for a 3-0 finish in the 120 weight class to finish the day with a D3 North Crown and could be an odds on favorite to retain his title next weekend at All States.
Among the other surprises were silver medals wins by Mike Doucette and Matt Parker and the four bronze medals the Red Raiders walked away with.
Melrose started the day with Stanton taking down opponent Pat O’Boyle of Saugus in the 120 class. He also beat Zack Kreiter and Brody Johnson of Triton to help him earn the top spot.
Chris Reale competed in the 138 weight class, beating Doug Kang by a 3-1 decision. Though he fell to Triton’s Jake Durkin by a 3-0 decision he bounced back by beating Aaron Smith of Gloucester and Lucas Pasucci of Lynnfield/North Reading for an overall bronze medal finish.
Melrose’s John Seibert began his medal winning day in the 145 class by beating Ben Piercy of Wakefield. Though he fell to Lewi LHeureux of Triton he took out opponents Matt Reidy of Danvers and Jason Wojcik of Tyngsboro for his bronze medal finish.
Pat Whelan was another bronze medalist who beat competitor Bruce Lamb in the 160 weight class. Though he fell 2-1 in a decision to Evan Gourville of Wakefield he bounced back with wins over Zach Pratt of Davers and Devin Young of Pentucket. In the 170 class Melrose’s Antonio DiFronzo clinched Melrose’s next bronze medal by beating Ryan Cunningham of Wakefield, Adrian Gedney of Gloucester, Andrew Lesperance of Wilmington and last opponent Dan Greaney to secure his third place finish.
The Raiders next earned two silver medals behind the performances of Matt Parker and Mike Doucette.
In the 182 class, Doucette started this strong day by beating Tyler Ciarmataro of Triton and RJ Capodilupo of Danvers. He then beat Tommy Donahue of Gloucester in a 11-4 decision. In his final bout he fell in a close 4-3 decision to Noah Malhi of Pentucket who ended up placing first. Matt Parker clinched his silver medal in the 195 by beating Anthony Trang of Saugus, Chris Jacques of Gloucester and Vitaliy Andrusyshysn of Lynnfield/North Reading. His last bout was against Dan Wensley of Wakefield, who beat Parker and took first place.
In the heavy weight 285 division Melrose’s Nick Disley secured a fourth place finish by beating Riain Flynn, Vinny Butera and Mike Lima of Wakefield.
Results
1. Lynnfield/North Reading 206.50
2. Melrose 197.50
3. Danvers 172.50
4. Triton 166.50
5. Wakefield 156.00
6. Tyngsboro 138.00
7. Pentucket 118.00
8. Saugus 111.50
9. Wilmington 85.00
10. Gloucester 76.50
11. Georgetown/Ipswich 72.50
12. Minuteman Vocational 54.00
13. Essex Tech 36.00
14. Marblehead/Swampscott 25.00
