Junior standout Max Thomas and the Gloucester High wrestling squad had the luxury of hosting this past weekend’s Division 3 state championship meet. With their home crowd behind them, the Fishermen delivered with a performance for the ages.
Going in as the top seed in the 215-pound bracket, Thomas would roll through the competition en route to an individual title. Teammates Aiden DeCoste (138 lbs.) and Joe Allen (175) each landed high on the podium as well with third place finishes, while Jayden Chadwick (120 lbs.) snared fifth and Anthony Murawski (157) placed seventh.
The collective effort propelled Gloucester to an impressive runner-up team finish with 100.5 total points, just shy of eventual champion Dedham’s final tally of 101.
“Two straight trophies in two weeks; I can’t complain,” said GHS head coach Matt Swanson, whose team also finished second at last weekend’s D3 North Sectionals in Dracut. There was a total of 53 teams that competed for the D3 state title.
“All the stars pretty much lined up, and everybody pitched in again. What a season,” added the coach.
Making his mark
In reaching the top of the 215-pound weight class, Thomas became just the sixth GHS wrestler in program history to earn the distinction as a state champion. He follows in the footsteps of Fishermen greats Daniel Beaton, Liam Donahue, Michael Toppan, Jayden Toppan and Morgan Pennimpede.
And he made it look easy.
Thomas rolled to a first round pin in his opening match on Friday before dominating Carver’s Michael Brennan and winning by tech fall in the quarterfinals later that day. That set the stage for a pair of entertaining matches on Saturday, where Thomas handled Holyoke’s Jesus Morales, the No. 4 seed, in the semis and beat Scituate’s Xander Pizer for the second time this year in the finals.
That championship bout came down to experience, as Thomas responded well to an early takedown to seize a 14-5 major decision in an overall competitive bout.
“Job complete,” said Thomas, who lost in the state finals a season ago. “This just feels something different; it’s awesome. And having all my boys here supporting me just makes it 10 times better.”
Now boasting a season record of 49-3 and a 145-26 mark for his career, Thomas has simply put the work in to yield such positive results. He was the favorite heading into state competition, and more than lived up to those expectations.
Waiting patiently for his name to be called as the second-to-last match of the day in the finals, Thomas went in cool, calm and collected. He pulled off a big time reversal in Round 1 after Pizer had taken him down early, and was in control from there on out to earn the necessary points to hoist the trophy.
“I knew that he would come out strong and he did. He took me down,” said Thomas. “But going in to it I felt if I could survive the first 30 seconds to a minute of his aggressiveness I knew I was gonna take it home.”
As for the clutch reversal to kick things off, it was a move Thomas has practiced time and time again throughout his career.
“It was just a classic elbow roll. I mean, I’ve been perfecting that forever,” he said. “I have all the coaches to work with me on that and it’s just something that’s always in my back pocket.”
While Thomas’ triumph was a resounding one, it wasn’t quite enough to jolt Gloucester into first place in the team standings. Had he pinned his opponent in the finals, that would’ve put the Fishermen over the top — but that’s not something he nor coach Swanson were concerned about going into the marquee clash.
“It was close, he almost had (the pin) and it could’ve gone either way,” said Swanson. “But we didn’t want him to alter his wrestling in order to go for that pin and have something bad happen. It was just ‘you focus on winning the match and that’s that.’ He’s an absolute sensation, and for him to win his first state title, that was so key, so surreal, and it got us into second place.”
Stellar supporting cast
Thanks to a tremendous showing at sectionals, Gloucester sent a whopping eight grapplers to the state competition.
Joe Amero (113 lbs.), Drew Rodolosi (132) and Zach Hashley (190) all held their own in Friday’s opening matches, but were unable to advance to the final day of the event. Amero and Hashley each picked up wins on Day 1.
At 138, DeCoste, the No. 3 seed in his class, won his first two bouts over South Shore Tech and Foxboro opponents to snare a spot in the semifinals on Saturday. He ultimately fell short against eventual champion Coleson Tully of Carver, but swept his way through the ensuing consolation bracket to pick up a massive third place.
Likewise at 175 pounds, Allen fell in the quarterfinals of his draw but rebounded with four straight wins in the consolation bracket to battle his way to third, too. Allen capped things off with a 7-5 decision over South Shore Tech’s Jackson Bisson, the same opponent who had knocked him out of the winner’s bracket in the quarters on Friday.
After losing in the quarterfinals at 120, Chadwick picked up four victories in his next five bouts to claim fifth overall, while Murawski won three of his five matches at 157 to snare seventh. Chadwick will join Thomas, DeCoste and Allen at All-States next weekend in Springfield, while Murawski may just get a bid, too, after an injury to the sixth place finisher in his weight class could open up a spot.
“Anthony Murawski showed up today, Jayden Chadwick showed up today, Joe Allen was hurt this morning and bounced back, Aiden DeCoste is wrestling at a college level … just absolutely amazing,” said Swanson. “I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
Now it’s on to All-States, where Thomas — as well as his qualifying teammates — will look to extend an already phenomenal campaign with another strong showing.
“We’ve proven ourselves to be one of the best Division 3 teams there is and that’s just a bunch of hard work, starting with our coaches,” said Thomas, who spoke about his anticipated preparation for the next big meet.
“Change nothing,” he said. “Just keep on going the way I have been consistently, practicing every day, working hard every day. My (first) goal this year was to be a state champion in Division 3 in our home (field house). I’ve done that, now it’s time to work for the second goal (of winning at All-States).”