Martin Middle Wrestling State Champs - 2nd Consecutive Year Undefeated Two Years

Undefeated Two Years - Runaway State Champs

For the second consecutive year, E.R. Martin Middle School has won the wrestling state championship in a runaway. The event, a two-day tournament, was held at Cumberland High School in February and featured 31 Rhode Island middle schools. As wrestling tourneys go, the overall team score can change many times during the first day of competition. At the end of a long first day Martin had 198.5 pts leading their nearest challenger by 47.5 points. "Points go up and down quickly and we'll go into the final day as even with everybody else in our mind," said Martin Head Coach Bobby Rodericks after the opening night action. Agreeing with that was Riverside Head Coach Glen Salgueiro. "I am impressed with my kids who have worked so hard to reach 6th place in the standings as of tonight," added Salgueiro.

As more than 500 wrestlers from across 31 Rhode Island middle schools gathered on Sunday, it was clear that 30 schools knew that had to beat Martin to move up on the leader board posted live by state officials. As the competitions weaned the wrestlers down to the evening's finals there was a collective, but respectful groan from the crowd, as Martin was announced as leading the top 10 schools. It appeared that the Wildcats would be tough to beat - and they were.

Martin had several wrestlers going to the finals, the most in the tourney. Michael Foster 70 lbs, Jonas Gomaz 75 lbs, Hayden Decristofaro 82 lbs, John Jessop 89 lbs, Austin Phillips 119 lbs, D`ante Silva 126 lbs, Emmanuel Santiago 159 lbs, Cameron Bailey 170 lbs, Richard Maciel 200 lbs and William Mugoodwin at 275 lbs.

Riverside was also well represented with Jovanni Hussey 75 lbs, Andrew Baptista 133 lbs, Jeffrey Clark 148 lbs, Kyle Xavier 170 lbs and Leo Frias at 200 lbs.

Michael Foster of Martin took 6th place in the 70 lb class.

Jovanni Hussey of Riverside took third place in the 75 lbs class and Jonas Gomaz of Martin took 6th place. Hussey won by tech fall (more points) over Bryan Dupras of Kickemuit.

Hayden Decristofaro of Martin took 6th in the 82 lb class.

Martin's John Jessop of Martin took the 4th place medal home in the 89 lb class.

Austin Phillips of Martin won 2nd place in the 119 lb class.

D`ante Silva of Martin won 2nd place in the 126 lb group.

In the 133 lb class Andrew Baptista of Riverside won by points over William Guilmette of Feinstein.

Jeffrey Clark of Riverside won in an ultimate tie breaker over Joe Mastrophine of Feinstein in the 148 lb class.

Emmanuel Santiago of Martin won 1st place by several points over Noah Roberts Western Hills in the 159 lb class.

In the 170 lb class, Cameron Bailey of Martin won 1st place by pinning Alex Nuan of Esek Hopkin. Also in the 170 5th place match, Kyle Xavier of Riverside pinned Nick Balas of McCourt.

Richard Maciel of Martin took home 2nd place in the 200 lb class. Also in the 200 lb class 5th place match, Leo Frias of Riverside pinned Isaiah Spearman of Nathanael Greene.

In a battle for top spot in the 275 lb class, William Mugoodwin of Martin won 1st place by pinning Sean Daravikchay of Western Hills. Also Eric Robinson of Martin won 4th place in this class.

Martin had 27 wins by pin and Riverside had 18 pins during the state tournament. Here is a breakdown of individual wins by pinning their opponent: Kyle Xavier, Riverside 4; Emmanuel Santiago, Martin, 3; Leo Frias, Riverside, 3; Andrew Baptista, Riverside, 3; John Jessop, Martin, 3; Kyle Arredondo, Martin, 2; D`ante Silva, Martin, 2; Jeffrey Clark, Riverside, 2; EricRobinson, Martin, 2; Richard Maciel, Martin, 2; William Mugoodwin, Martin, 2 and Chase Kennedy of Riverside had 1 pin.

Spreading the Praise:

"I want to acknowledge my coaches, volunteers, parents and school administrators who helped make this team a success," said Rodericks. "That's our secret to winning, a real team effort and motivating these kids to come out early and work hard," he said. Coaching with Rodericks are Jordan Almeida, Brian Ferreira, Donnie Senna and "others who help out when they can."

"We won another State Championship because of the culture that has been established in the school - from the secretaries taking calls, passing information to parents. The custodian, Joe Terceira, who not only prepared the water and mop bucket before every practice to wash the mats, he would also have two milk crates filled with milk and fruit for all the wrestlers to have after each practice ended. The teachers in the building that worked with me to improve the kids grades and behavior was very helpful" said Rodericks in heaping praise upon the Martin community.

"Our new Dean of Students Rich Small and principals Fatima Avila and Rob Perry gave us tremendous support," he added. "Principal Avila, without hesitation, met me on that Friday snow day at school so I could get equipment out of my office for the weekend tourney. Both Mrs. Avila and Mr. Perry would stop in the wrestling room to show their support," said Rodericks. The coach chuckled when relating how Assistant Principal Rob Perry - a former Townie wrestler - "would get on the mat and show moves and even wrestle with state champ Cam Bailey. The parents were huge supporters that were dedicated and donated a lot of their own time, money and whatever else needed to be done," he added.

Here are the rosters of Martin and Riverside. Alphabetically with last name first followed by weight class:

Martin Middle School:

Arredondo, Kyle 185

Babbit, Colby 104

Bailey, Cameron 170

Chakouin, Skylar 133

Decristofaro, Hayden 82

Foster, Michael 70

Garcia, Efren 96

Gomaz, Jonas 75

Jessop, John 89

Maciel, Richard 200

Martinez, Janssel 112

Mauricio, Devonte 140

Mugoodwin, William 275

Phillips, Austin 119

Robinson, Eric 275

Santiago, Emmanuel 159

Seagrave, Keegan 148

Silva, D`ante 126

Wood, Jared 112

Riverside Middle School:

Baptista, Andrew 133

Clark, Jeffrey 148

Frias, Ismael 119

Frias, Leo 200

Hess, Cj 126

Hussey, Jovanni 75

Johnson, Tyler 89

Kennedy, Chase 70

Martins, Troy 82

Oliver, Jacob 140

Popolillo Michael 159

Seal, Vincent 112

White, Jaden 104

Xavier, Kyle 170