When most athletes enter their first year of the sport, their main goal is simply to gain experience and have fun, not to rise as a star athlete. However, for first-year wrestler, junior Manny Rosado, the sport came easily to him. Within his first season alone, he won 40 matches, broke a school record and placed third in a state competition.

“It’s unbelievable to be a part of Walpole history, and it’s crazy to even think it,” Rosado said. “I thank the school for the great opportunity.”

Aside from his historic number of wins, Rosado also placed third at the state championships, the highest place of the Walpole High Wrestling Program this year.

“Placing third was my greatest accomplishment I have ever achieved,” Rosado said.

As a junior, the 2019 season was Rosado’s first attempt at wrestling. Rosado’s football teammate, junior AJ Servello, encouraged Rosado to join the team. Even with the lack of background and experience, Rosado excelled after a quick transitional period.

“[Starting wrestling] wasn’t difficult for me as a junior because of the support I had around me from my teammates and coaches because they were always there for me,” Rosado said.

Many players from the football team join the wrestling team, such as Rosado, because strong football players often become talented wrestlers. With Rosado, his mental and physical toughness as a defensive tackle easily transitioned to the wrestling mats.

“Like anything, it was difficult at first, but with [Rosado], he caught on so quickly. He placed third in the Wayland tournament and had only wrestled for three days,” Head Coach Steve Hile said. “After Wayland, we knew we had a gifted athlete who had potential to do special things this year. We just needed to coach him the fundamentals of the sport.”

With his name now etched in Walpole High School history, Rosado looks to improve further as an athlete and accomplish even more through hard work in the off season and pushing himself to place higher and even win first place at States.

“We are extremely proud of what he has done this year. What we didn’t know was his incredible determination to succeed,” Hile said. “Add all these up and we got a wrestler who set the school record for wins in a season with 40, became a Sectional Champion and placed 3rd at the State tournament. Next year is going to be so much fun.”

The end of Rosado’s high school career is coming fast, but he remains positive and looks forward to accomplishing as much as he can in his final year of athletics at Walpole High.

“I am excited for next season because it’s going to be my last year of doing sports in high school since I’m going to be a senior and I’m going to try to make it my best,” Rosado said.