Tewksbury's Nick Desisto, Jack Callahan Win Wrestling State Titles

WAKEFIELD, MA — Tewksbury Memorial High School boys wrestlers Nick Desisto and Jack Callahan captured Division 3 state championships last weekend in Wakefield.

The pair will be joined by five other Redmen at this weekend's 2023 MIAA All State Tournament, which takes place Friday and Saturday in Reading.

The No. 2 seeded Desisto, a freshman, won the 106-pound state final Saturday with a 12-7 win over No. 1 seed Kevin Ribeiro, a senior from Keefe Tech.

Desisto, who improved to 32-4, avenged his loss to Ribeiro in the 2022 state final, a match Desisto competed in while in eighth grade.

Desisto became just the second freshman in TMHS history to win a state title.

Callahan, a senior 126-pounder, is no stranger to state titles, having captured the 2022 crown. He repeated as champion last weekend, pinning Mount Everett's Tyler Candelari at the 1:45 mark in the finals.

Callahan improved to 46-3 on the season.

"Both Jack (Callahan) and Nick (Desisto) are extremely dedicated wrestlers, and are true students of the sport," TMHS head coach Steve Kasprzak told Patch. "They are in constant pursuit of improvement. Their work goes far beyond the high school wrestling season, both wrestling year-round, and at times six to seven days a week."

Kasprzak continued: "They earned their state titles the old-fashioned way, old-school blue-collar work. We are very fortunate to have their character in our room here in Tewksbury. Both these boys deserve all the credit for their success. Proud to call them Redmen."

At last weekend's Division 3 State Championship, the top six wrestlers in each division advanced to the All State Tournament.

The other Redmen joining Desisto and Callahan at the All State Tournament will be: junior Paxton Green, who finished second at 195 pounds, junior Hunter Johnson, who came in third at 145 pounds, senior Jack Donovan, who was fourth at 138 pounds, freshman Angelo Desisto, who finished fifth at 113 pounds, and sophomore Manny Mengata, who came in fifth at 220 pounds.

In the team competition, TMHS finished second to Melrose. TMHS had finished first, ahead of Melrose, at the previous week's Division 3 North Sectional Meet.

The brackets for this weekend's 2023 MIAA All State Tournament are available online.