12-1 Melrose tops Burlington at home too

Published January 17, 2020

By JENNIFER GENTILE

MELROSE—It was a flawless week for the Melrose Red Raider wrestling team, who went 6-0 over the week to improve to an incredible 12-1 on the season, after winning their home opener over Burlington last Wednesday and emerging victorious in a Super Quad meet in Lynnfield over the weekend.

The Red Raiders kicked off their winning streak on Wednesday, Jan. 8 when they hosted league rival Burlington and picked up a 42-20 win. Melrose benefited from a number of forfeits in Red Devil weight classes but saw impressive pins by Hunter Adrian, Bob Morrison and Alex Lock. Picking up wins overall were Sean Thomas, Matt Hickey, Sean Herbert, Victor Rodriguez and Jake Swan. Burlington’s only wins came at the efforts of Cam Soda, Ryan McGill, Jack Laverty and Tim Vandris. The victory has Melrose now 2-0 in the Middlesex Freedom League. 

WINNING COMES easy for Melrose state champ Sean Herbert, who picked up a home victory over Burlington last week. (Jeff Maté photo)

Melrose went on to sweep the field over the weekend when they competed at the 2020 Super Quad at North Reading High school. They pulled off a 5-0 day with wins over Lynnfield/North Reading, Essex Tech, Swampscott/Marblehead, Gloucester and Salem, and did so without New England Champ Hunter Adrian, who competed at Eastern States in New York where he placed third in his weight class. Going undefeated at the Super Quad was Melrose’s Matt Hickey and Sean Herbert. 

“For us to win while Hunter was in NY was huge for us,” says Melrose coach Larry Tremblay. 

Among the winners on Saturday for Melrose were Jake Petitpas (113) Hunter Adrian, Steve Fogarty (136), Mike Maher (145) Sean Herbert (152) Victor Rodriguez and Matt Hickey in the 220. Says Tremblay, “I thought Jake and Steve Fogarty were really critical for us against North Reading/Lynnfield. They came up big.” Eric Pimental enjoyed some nice wins over the day, as did Sean Thomas. 

Breakthrough wrestlers this season include Victor Rodriguez and Matt Hickey, two athletes who are proving to be key ingredients to Melrose’s overall success. “Victor just worked so hard in the offseason and has improved so much and last weekend beat tough [ranked] opponents,” say the coach. “And Matt Hickey is started to transform into the wrestler we knew he’d be. Both are making a big difference this season in terms of wins.” 

This weekend Melrose will compete in a Super Quad in Holliston as they look to tally up more wins. Stay tuned.