SAUGUS — The Saugus-Peabody wrestling team took another step toward a possible conference title Saturday, sweeping a quad-meet it hosted at the Saugus Middle High School to remain undefeated in dual matches at 15-0.
Saugus-Peabody opened with a 67-12 win over Wilmington then defeated Lynn Tech-English-Classical, 65-10. Saugus-Peabody polished off the meet with a 50-19 win over Canton.
In its other two matches, Lynn lost 43-13 to Canton in its first match and then closed with an up-for-grabs 28-20 loss to Wilmington.
For Saugus-Peabody, Justin Bremberger (157 pounds), Cesar Cruz (165) and Jackson Deleidi (120/126) won all three of their matches. Bremberger was dominant, not allowing a single point, while two of Cruz’s wins came via first period pins in the first minute. Captains Mike Maraio (150) and Max LoRusso (144), Tucker Landry (113) anAnna Felicio (106) also finished 3-0 with one win each by forfeit. Maraio claimed the quickest pin of the day, pinning his Canton opponent in 27 seconds.
Trey Riley (215) finished 2-0 while Landon Rodriguez (132, one forfeit win), Lukas Fondulis (138), Evan Johnson (175) and Jayden Ceac (190) finished the day 2-1. Jake Murray (126), Damien Valentin (215) and Manny Zapato won one match each.
Lynn went into the meet undermanned and unable to fill several weight classes yet six wrestlers came home with at least one win each. Eric Ayala (175) and Omar DeJesus (157) were the team’s top performers, finishing 2-1. Pablo Maldonaro (138), Irene Delva (106), Mezziah Pena (285) won one match each despite giving up a huge size advantage. Davi De Oloveira (165) also won one match, the first of his varsity career.
Despite multiple forfeits, head coach Dan Koziski said there were several positives to take away.
“Today, we had five kids missing but some of our kids have been doing really well. We are also missing Kayden Barazzo who has yet to lose a match yet this season,” Koziski said. “Like I said, some kids come and go and some might only make a meet and a few practices, then miss some. A lot of them also work after school which makes it harder for our kids. But the kids who are wrestling are doing really well.
“Today, Alexandro (Jean-Louis, 190) and Eduardo (Perez, 190) fought hard, but just didn’t match up well against their opponents. Irene fought hard especially as she is only in the eighth grade and this is her first year wrestling.”
With Saturday’s quad in the rearview mirror, Saugus-Peabody is now focusing on beating Beverly Wednesday to clinch the CAL/NEC dual-meet title and the CAL/NEC Open Championship Saturday at Triton.
“It’s (the Beverly dual-meet) a big one, a really big one,” Felicio said. “It’s a big rivalry. If we win it, we win the CAL/NEC dual-meet title. What we need to do is pin, pin, pin.”
“We are focusing on Wednesday and if we have an opportunity to pin, we want them to take it,” Moda said. “It will all come down to that match on Wednesday. Hopefully, we can pull it off. We have a chance to win both.”
With respect to Saturday’s meet, Moda said the team needs to improve upon last year when it finished third behind Beverly and Gloucester.
“Beverly will probably put three or four into the finals and we have a chance to put potentially five or six into the finals. We had six in the finals last year and only won two,” he said. “I expect Beverly will have two or three champs. The big thing is there are a couple of kids from the CAL who will sneak in and bump off some of these NEC guys. It’s going to come to the consis (consolation brackets). If we wrestle well there, we can win the tournament.”
Moda is also looking forward to a significant milestone for LoRusso, who topped the 100-career win mark earlier this year.
“If he continues the way he’s been going, he will be the winningest wrestler in Saugus history,” Moda said. “The last guy holding the record dates to 1991. That’s about all we know as the records are incomplete.”
Saugus-Peabody has been motivated all season to honor the memory of Freddy Espinal, a Peabody up-and-coming wrestler who was only 17 when he died unexpectedly in September shortly after the start of his junior year. The team’s motto is “Wrestle like Freddy.” If this season’s magical ride proves anything, it’s that wrestling like Freddy works.
“We’re all just doing it for Freddy,” Felicio said. “Still and always. He’s with us every day.”
