Intense practices, dedication, and good leadership have the Watertown High School wrestling team on the rise, and several Raiders hope to keep the momentum going at this weekend’s MIAA Div. 3 State Meet and beyond.
Watertown High School’s wrestling team will hit the mats at the MIAA Div. 3 State Meet in Foxborough, with hopes of qualifying for the All-State Meet.
One wrestler, senior Tessa Master, hopes to repeat her State title, while other Raiders returning to States hope to improve their finishes. A few Watertown wrestlers will be competing in their first State Meet.
Master will be seeing her first action at the state level this weekend in the 145 pound class, because there was no girls’ competition at the Sectional Meet.
“Last year I won it, so my plan this year is to win it again, and hopefully All-States again, too,” said Master.
Her ultimate goal is to improve on her junior season, when she won All-States and got to New Englands, where she finished third.
“I’m looking to win (New Englands), or at least be a finalist,” she said. “Preferably winning,”
Senior Brady Gleason (175 pounds) placed third at Sectionals and returns to the State Meet, with hopes of doing even better than he did at Sectionals.
“I got third at Sectionals, which I was glad that I placed and I get to go on to States, but I want to do better at States than Sectionals,” Gleason said.
In January, Gleason became just the third Raiders’ wrestler to reach the 100-win mark.
“It was very exciting to get it,” he said. “I’ve been wrestling for a while, so when I heard that I was close it motivated me a lot more this year to push hard and win.”
One Raider, junior Fahad Khan, comes into States as the Sectional champion in his division (106 pounds). He wants to keep the postseason winning streak going.
“It’s my first year of wrestling. I got first place in the Sectionals,” Khan said. “I never did wrestle before, so it was a great experience.”
Junior Jimmy Shrestha (126 pounds) was an alternate for States last year, but this year he is in the bracket. Sophomore Christian Barrett (113 pounds) will be going to his first States. Both said they hope to move on to All-States. The top six finishers at States will move on to the All-State Meet on Feb. 28 and March 1.
Junior Hagop Shabazyan is an alternate at 190 pounds, after finishing fifth place at Sectionals, so he hopes just to see some action at States.
Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo said the goal of making All-States is realistic for all the Raiders going to States.
“Anyone that shows up this week has a shot. Honestly, this weekend, it’s almost the people that are peaking at the right time,” Russo said. “Off-season training helps prepare you for it, but this is a time where, if you’re peaking now, then you’re going to do better, right? And there’s no bad competition this weekend. Everybody’s good, yeah. So it’s fun, it’s exciting.”
Gleason said that the first-timers at States should be ready for tough competition
“Everyone at states, they want it more than most people at Sectionals,” Gleason said. “Sometimes you get Sectionals and someone just wants to end their season, but when you get to States everyone’s a good wrestler. Everyone wants to be there, everyone wants to win. So the level jumps.”
Master also shared some advice from experience from States.
“Don’t get caught up in it. Every match you have is just another wrestling match,” Master said. “You can’t think of it as like, ‘Oh, this is a bigger match than anything else.’ Every match you have is the most important at that moment.”
Stretha said some of the competition will be familiar at States.
“You’re going against kids who you went against in the season,” he said. “You can’t really underestimate anyone, because even if you beat them (in the season) they might give you a hard match.”
Russo, in his 34th year in coaching, has seen great improvement from his team over the past couple years.
“We have gone from four wins two years ago to 16 wins as a team this year,” Russo said.
On Wednesday, the wrestlers competing at States were joined at practice by dozens of other Raiders.
“This (practice) is optional for the people that aren’t qualified. Look how many kids we have in there, right? That’s a sign of people that are having a good time,” Russo said. “For me as a coach, that’s the stuff that I like to see the best — that people are having a good time. When you have fun and you work hard, you win more than you lose.”
Practices at the wrestling room at the Phillips Building are rigorous, starting with running and calisthenics, followed by sparring with a partner.
“We work real hard. We train real hard,” Russo said. “Our philosophy is we train for the worst possible thing. We train for triple overtime. That’s how we do it.”
Russo said he has also seen great leadership from Gleason and Master, which will be difficult to replace next season.
“You do the best you can. Yeah, they left their mark on this program,” Russo said. “There’s no replacing people like that. You just hope that other people learn enough from their leadership to keep it going. We’re very lucky to have that kind of leadership. Tommy Dicker, last year, Brady and Tessa, this year — we’ve had great leadership. We’ve been spoiled.”
Master is looking at wrestling in college, and is still deciding between a few schools. Gleason is still deciding what he wants to do after graduation.
Dicker, who graduated in 2024 after being a finalist at States and winning a match at All-States, was back at WHS helping at practices.
“Tommy’s still an important part of the program,” Russo said. “So the kids come back and give back. It’s been great.”