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Boston Globe
22-02-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Wrestling notebook: Jump from judo was a winning move for St. John's Prep duo
It goes back to last fall, at Pedro's Judo Center in Wakefield, when owner Jimmy Pedro told two of his national champion judokas to join the sport. Ternullo and Octavio De Oliveira dove right in, their respective first- and third-place finishes in the section contributing greatly to the Eagles finishing 38 points clear of the field. ' 'They bring a level of professionalism, fast friendships with the rest of the guys on the team. ' St.. John's Prep wrestling coach Ryan Harding, on seniors Mimmo Ternullo Jr. and Octavio De Oliveira St. John's Prep head coach Ryan Harding (left) congratulates Mimmo Ternullo Jr. after his first-round victory at the Division 1 North sectional. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff 'They're both awesome kids,' said Ryan Harding , Prep's first-year coach who took over for the Bay State's career wins leader and Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Their work ethic is outstanding . . . conditioning, making sure they're on time . . .there are no small things to them. Everything's important. They've come in and done an outstanding job.' Advertisement It is not just that Ternullo defeated DeMaio for the sectional title after the junior had ended his Lowell Holiday Tournament with a 10-3 decision in December. He realized the moves from his 14 years of judo, the strengths that made him a two-time national champion and Pan-American medalist, were not effective in the match. His sprawl go-behind for the lead came from the two-plus months of devotion to becoming a better wrestler. D1 States: Mimmo Ternullo adds a takedown and wins his round of 16 matchup at 157 pounds — AJ (@aj_traub) 'Wrestling is definitely a change from judo,' Ternullo said. 'In judo, you can't grab the legs, and in wrestling that's the biggest key. I knew I could fit my judo into wrestling. Me and Coach Harding worked together to find what my game could be.' Ternullo and De Oliveira have their sights on the 2028 Olympics for judo, but have wanted to wrestle for a while, too. Knowing it's Ternullo's senior year, they decided to seize their last chance in high school. Their drive to be the best is evident. Advertisement Adding match experience, training with coaches such as Harding and Pedro, and sparring with teammates, Ternullo entered States on a 30-3 stretch following an 8-6 December. De Oliveira, a junior, went 9-7 in his first month and is 19-5 since. St. John's Prep 215-pound junior Octavio De Oliveria (top) battles Brookline's Bryce Figueioredo (bottom) during a first-round bout in the Division 1 North sectional. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff It's rounding out their combat sport abilities, especially when De Oliveira is wrestling in the 215-pound weight class despite his judo class being 181. It's helping his ground work, too. 'I was honestly happy,' said De Oliveira, a youth national champion and medalist at Pan America and Junior Olympics. 'I was excited and happy to wrestle bigger people because it's more of a challenge. Being able to beat them and do well against them when I'm smaller brings me satisfaction that I'm able to do that.' The judoists excel in upper-body grappling, and know their throws. Harding works with them on identifying possible counters to their go-to moves, and how to re-counter. De Oliveira spars with teammate Alex Bajoras , a New England heavyweight finalist, to sharpen his throws against heavier opponents. Vince Bilotti , a 190-pound senior with 100 wins, helped him learn the rules of the sport. 'It's hard to tie up with them, hard to get grips because they've been doing it so long. You have to think of new ways to do it,' said Bilotti, of his judoka teammates. 'I have to go for legs no matter what. Octavio, he's been getting better all season. He'll do something and work a throw into it, I have to figure out a new way to do it.' Luke Calder , a 165-pound sophomore, identifies with the upper-body style, so he picks up on Ternullo's expertise in some of the moves. It's a mutually beneficial challenge between Ternullo and Will LaVallee (150 pounds) since the sophomore prefers ground work and shooting. Advertisement Ternullo's ability to change his stance and head position quickly prepares LaVallee for similar opponents. 'Mimmo has different types of explosiveness,' said LaVallee, who entered States at 82-23. 'His hips are a key part of his fundamental wrestling. He's also implemented his throws, I see it throughout his matches. For me, it helps me be more aware of my mat situation, where I am in different situations too.' Ternullo resides in Saugus and De Oliveira is from Peabody, but since the latter started judo at 8 years old, the two have navigated their athletic careers together. For the length of this postseason, the two are formidable grapplers for a top New England squad. 'For me and him to be on the same team means a lot,' Ternullo said. 'We've been doing judo together for so long. Getting to know the sport [of wrestling] together because we were unfamiliar, and getting to see each other do well, it means a lot to both of us. Near falls ▪ Northfield Mount Hermon (307 points) finished second at the NEPSWA championships to Greens Farms (331.5), with Nate Consigli (157 pounds), Elliott Humphries (175), and Jimmy Bechter (285) earning championships. Belmont Hill (208) finished third, with Brody Sayers (106), Isaac Novod (120), and Jack Dragoumanos (132) atop the podium. Phillips Andover's Julian Rios won a title at 113 and was named outstanding wrestler. Scituate resident Sara McLaughlin (126 pounds) helped Choate Rosemary Hall finish first in the girls' tournament with four champions and 168 points. Phillips finished second, with Dani Nugent (138) becoming the first girl to win four New England Prep championships and earning Outstanding Wrestler honors. Serra Akyali won at 100 and Toni Elliott at 185. Advertisement Other girls' champs at Mass. schools include Northfield Mount Hermon's Niayla Curley (152), and Nobles's Morgan Gibson (132). ▪ St. John's Prep led the field, winning three weight classes at the War Dogs Who's #1 Freshman tournament. Bryant Mason won at 175 and 190, and Jaxson Tammaro won at 285. Natick, the host, was the other school to crown two champs: Henry Massey (120) and Angelo Macchiano (144). ▪ The National Wrestling Coaches Association selected Central Catholic graduate Jackie Dehney as NCAA Women's National Wrestler of the Month for January. The New England College freshman went 12-0 in the month and stands at 22-0 on the season. She won the Will Abele Open and Bobcat Open tournaments. ▪ UMass club wrestling is looking to Tournament schedule Division 1 (Day 2), North Andover High, Saturday. Division 2 (Day 2), Salem High, Saturday. Division 3 (Day 2), Foxborough High, Saturday. All-States, Methuen High, Feb. 28-March 1. New England's, Providence Career and Technical Academy, R.I., March 8-9. AJ Traub can be reached at
Boston Globe
16-02-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Morales, Tildsley brothers draw upon sibling strength at Division 1 North wrestling sectional championships
Nathan watched his older brother, Yandel, earn Division 1 North sectional titles the past two years, and seized his opportunity to get the center stage win at St. John's Prep's Mahoney Wellness Center. Yandel earned the pin at 132 pounds, winning his third in as many years. 'Me and Nathan trained very hard in the offseason,' Yandel said. 'We're drill partners for each other. We're that brotherly support. It feels a little better to win it with my brother.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Following with pins at 138 and 150 were another pair of brothers, Shawsheen's Sid and James Tildsley. Both are now 4-for-4 as sectional winners, and James's finals victory was his 200th as a high school wrestler. Advertisement 'It's a great feeling,' said James, a junior. 'Me and my brother have been training really hard, that way when we go out on the mat, there's no question about who's going to win.' Now at 233-4, Sid is inching closer to the state record of 244 by Mount Greylock's Devin Pelletier. 'My goal is to beat the state win record this year,' Sid said. 'For my brother to beat me next year is something that's great, to have two Tildsleys the top two in state history is just awesome.' A third pair of brothers made the finals: Methuen's Anthony and Vinny DeMaio. Vinny won via major decision 11-3 at 175 pounds, but Mimmo Ternullo Jr. earned a late takedown in the 157 finals and secured a 6-5 victory. The senior Ternullo, in his first year wrestling, helped St. John's Prep earn the title at home with 269.5 points. Braedon Goes (126), Jimmy Lally (144), and Alex Bajoras (285) also won titles for the Prep. 'I just woke up today and thought I was going to win, like everything was going good in my head,' said Ternullo, who has multiple judo national championships and international medals. 'I was very confident from the first match to the last match. The adrenaline was pumping in the finals.' Advertisement The long term goal for Ternullo is the 2028 Olympics, but he decided to do a year of wrestling. 11 top seeds won at sectionals, one No. 2, and Ternullo the No. 4. 'I just kept looking at the clock and the time was going by super slow,' he said. 'Once I got the takedown, I was like 'I'm going to win this. I'm going to keep him down.' ' The Eagles have won six times consecutively, but it's the first time with Ryan Harding as head coach. He took over for Manny Costa after assisting for five years. 'It's really special,' Harding said. 'I love this place. I bleed for the Prep. I work here, I went to school here, I coach here. I see myself in the kids and I just want to make sure that I help them reach their goals.' It was not quite a homecoming for Joe Baker, who won a sectional title two years ago representing Danvers High. Saturday Baker won a title via technical fall, 21-4, at 165 pounds as a senior at Beverly. After becoming the first Beverly wrestler to win at the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament in December, he has continued to dominate. 'It's definitely cool being seen as the top guy,' he said. 'I don't do it for that. I like to just go out there and wrestle. 'I enjoyed it. I have a great team, great coaches.' Advertisement Division 1 South — At Xaverian, Weymouth (240.5) rode six individual champions to topple New Bedford (226) and Taunton (194.5). Michael Brooks (138 pounds) got it started with a major decision, and Samuel Ferron (15), Kevin Mackin (157), Jake Thompson (165), Naheem Ridore (215), and David Cummins (285) followed. Edrian Oliva Bojorquez (106), Anthony Bojorquez (113), and Josiah Martins Semedo (120) won for New Bedford. Division 1 Central / Metro — In Malden, Arlington (221.5) repeated as champion, with Middlesex rival Winchester (182) the runner-up. Cedrick Daniels (120 pounds) won his third sectional title, and Davi Dos Santos (132), Leo Fellonosa (165), and Brady Bekkenhuis (285) — career win No. 100, and the tourney's outstanding wrestler — were also victors for the Spy Ponders. 'We wrestled well, overall,' said Arlington coach Kevin Cummings. 'We qualified eight [wrestlers] for the state tourney.' Division 1 West / Central — Though 215-pounder Sean Keady was its only champion out of six finalists, Natick (236 points) edged out Chelmsford's 223.5 points and four champions at Franklin High. Division 2 North — Melrose (209.5) nosed out host Woburn (203.5) for the title, with Nashoba (180) third, and Whittier (171) fourth. The Red Hawks had two champions, Johnny Moraes (113) and Marco Albanese (157), but three others placed second. Division 2 South — Bridgewater-Raynham (271.5) rode six first-place finishes, and two seconds to the title at Stoughton, far outdistancing Hingham (178) and Duxbury (178). Jake Alves (132 pounds), Brent von Magnus (138), Brent Allain (144), Luke Driscoll (165), and brothers Fletcher (190) and Jackson Rinke (215) also won. Division 2 Central — Milford was once again dominant, putting seven on the top step of the podium at Bellingham High. Brayden Boccia (113 pounds), Dylan Wright (120), Derek Marcolini (126), Josiah Carney (138), Aidan Baum (144), Mikey Boulanger (157), and Luke Donis (190) were victorious for the Scarlet Hawks. Advertisement Division 2 West — In Northborough, West Springfield (240.5 points) won, thanks to Devon Mateo (113 pounds), Sarmad Alsultani (144), and Abel Varzeas (175) taking home the gold. Division 3 North — Senior captains Aydin Lamb (138 pounds) and Sean Callanan (157) won titles to help Wakefield (220 points) finish ahead of Lynnfield/North Reading (197.5) at Gloucester High. Division 3 South — At Cohasset High, Foxborough (251 points) finished well above the crowd and placed two champions: Jayden Rocha (150 pounds) and Joseph Blanchard (175). Division 3 Central — Host Wayland crowned four champions and racked up 267.5 points. Cole Chase (165 pounds), Anthony Brown (190), Nathan Tobe (215) and Nathan Hartunian (285) were the title- winners for the Warriors. Division 3 West — At Mount Greylock in Williamstown, Franklin County's 188 points were just enough to keep ahead of Monument Mountain (185) as the top four teams were separated by just 16 points. Carsten Couture (120 pounds) and Landon Purington (132) were the Eagles' champs. Craig Larson of the Globe staff and correspondent Ethan Kagno contributed. AJ Traub can be reached at
