Wrestlers Grapple with Challenges

By Matt Hylen

The Natick Wrestling team finished their 2025-26 season with a lot to be proud of. 

By season’s end, the team closed the regular season with a 20-4 overall record, while being undefeated in the Bay State Conference. 

This achievement marked Natick’s 6th straight BSC title and the 30th in the program’s history.

The Redhawks also finished as the runners-up at the D1 Central/West Sectional Championships and 15th at the Division 1 State Tournament. 

Junior Mike Mortarelli, who participated in the 120 pound division, and Senior Nick Ferro, in the 157 pound division, represented Natick at the MA All State Wrestling Tournament in Springfield.

However, Coach Robert Anniballi, who also is the District Director of Health and Physical Education and a longtime teacher, mentioned that it was not always smooth sailing, especially during the preseason.

 “Unfortunately, we had some preseason setbacks,” he detailed.

“Two of our best wrestlers suffered an injury that put him out the entire season, while our rookie wrestler of the year moved out of state.”

Yet, despite the big losses, preseason expectations remained the same for Anniballi. “We had, I thought, a team that was going to be a contender for maybe the top three or four in the state,” he said. “We had a pretty loaded team coming in.”

With the outlook of the roster different than anticipated, Anniballi had to find a way to adapt and put his team in the best position to win. As the season progressed, the team kept finding success, ultimately leading to their 20-4 record.

“It was very gradual,” Anniballi noted. “We had a lot of different guys in the lineup, but we were trying different scenarios and different wrestle-offs that determined those different lineups. I just think we, little by little, got better and better as a team”

With so much to account for, the team never faltered and stayed focused on the long term goals they set for themself. Anniballi said, “The team had a great attitude. There was no complaining about what we could have been.”

When considering the things that got the team to where it ended up by year’s end, Anniballi credited his wrestlers and everything they put into this season. “Our captains were terrific... the team had a great work ethic in the room. We have kids that bought in and understood how they could contribute,” he said.

Anniballi also was not shy to note that he was not the only person to coach the team. He credited village of extremely hard workers that helped bring this team together.

 “Our coaching staff is fantastic,” Anniballi emphasized. “I rely on all the assistant coaches. They’re very instrumental in everything that we do. We collaborate quite a bit.”

Looking into next year, Anniballi and the team are already eager to get back on the mats.

“I think a lot of the kids are motivated to get better in the offseason,” he noted. “It’s been pretty evident right away with many of them doing clubs and other camps, that there’s definitely a good attitude coming back. The coaches and the kids are pretty motivated about what the future holds and keeping our winning ways.”

A big way that Anniballi believes this can be achieved is not only through offseason preparation, but the recruitment of the younger generation and up-and-comers.

“I would like to get more of the younger kids out for our program to keep our program strong,” he said. “Keeping track of more athletes at the middle school level is one of the bigger things we are going to be working on.”

Behind Natick Wrestling’s continued success is the foundation Coach Anniballi has set.

The expectations he creates, as well as his willingness to work with his wrestlers to help them achieve that, has laid the groundwork for what has been a successful program for years on end.

“Having a system, an identifiable system, that the kids know what to expect is super important,” Anniballi stated. “We’re always adding and modifying things, but our core system as far as our technique and our [repetition-based] practice style, I think has helped us sustain this success.”

The Natick Wrestling program may be among the elite, but they are just getting started.