by Meghan Flournoy and Kristi Sharma
Senior Melecio Silva (7-0) reached win 100 at the Capital District Duals going against the sixth ranked wrestler in the state Zakeel Muhammad from Hanover High School.
Last year Melecio was the champion of Ram Club, placing fourth in the Hopewell classic, runner up in the Tiger Invitational and fourth in the Capital District. This year he won the most valuable wrestler award at the Lee-Davis Holiday Classic.
“I am proud of myself and hard work pays off,” Melecio said. “My biggest accomplishment was the Lee-Davis Holiday Classic.”
Math teacher and coach John Cerra and Highland Springs Technical Center teacher and coach Curtis Johnson prepared the wrestlers by working on strategies, techniques and strength. The coaches and players reviewed their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses by watching film.
In a season opener, the wrestlers travelled to Mechanicsville for the Lee-Davis Invitational where Melecio went up against Zakeel.
The night before the match, Melecio had to get seven stitches so he was skeptical about wrestling in the match. Still he pinned Zakeel for the win.
“I am glad I decided to wrestle because I would have missed out on the championship and beating a state placer,” Melecio said.
Melecio trains with the team doing strengthening workouts, technique workouts and stamina workouts. He stays after practice to train personally with the coaches and in the weight room.
“At the beginning of the season, we sat down with him and said, ‘You’re the only one on the team who can accomplish it. It will take mental toughness, and you will have to wrestle tougher.’ He has gotten a lot tougher over the last season. He goes out there and wrestles tougher. Kids can’t really stop him,” Coach Johnson said.
Melecio has been wrestling since eighth grade. His current weight class is 152. This season he’s only lost one match.
Melecio dedicates as much time to school work as he does to wrestling. He takes two AP classes, an honors class and goes to technical school at Highland Springs in the afternoon for electricity and cable. With a GPA of 3.79, he ranks 35 in the senior class.
“Among all the things that he does athletically and academically, he’s just a really good kid. You never have to worry about him doing the wrong thing,” Coach Johnson said.
Melecio said that the hardest part of wrestling is the commitment to put in the effort and time, but he loves the competitions especially the victories.
“I wrestle at the East End Wrestling Club to stay in shape and to be more successful during the season,” Melecio said.
Senior wrestler Paul Gregory said Melecio works hard at practice, which shows in his wins on the mat.
“He’s a really good wrestler, works hard in the room and out of the room. He deserved the 100 wins,” Paul said.
Coach Johnson said Melecio’s intensity level and focus allow him to see what he is doing at that moment on the mat.
“He has a lot of raw talent that hasn’t even been tapped into yet, and that’s going to make him a good wrestler at the next level,” Coach Johnson said.
Recent Comments