TOP POSITION: Princeton High star wrestler Blasé Mele, top, controls Pope John’s Donny Almeyda on the way to defeating him 7-1 in the 144-pound final last Saturday at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) State Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City. Mele is the first boys’ state champion in PHS history, and became only the fourth boy champion from Mercer County. (Photo provided by Jess Monzo)

By Justin Feil

Blasé Mele’s drive home from Atlantic City was different this year.

For the past years, it had been a return after falling short of his hopes in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) State Wrestling Championships, but it was different after the Princeton High senior captured the 144-pound weight class Saturday.

“I’ve been on top of the world,” said Mele. “I haven’t stopped smiling since it happened.”

Mele is the first boys’ state champion in PHS history, and became only the fourth boy champion from Mercer County when he scored a 7-1 win over Pope John’s Donny Almeyda in the final.

“Blasé was awesome,” said PHS head coach Jess Monzo. “I don’t think there’s a better word to describe it. The only people that really thought he was going to win are the people from Princeton. There was a lot of people over the weekend that wanted us to win against certain kids, but the only people that believed that were the guys in blue, the guys in his corner — his friends, his teammates. They knew he would do it.”

Taking sixth last year to get a spot on the podium, Mele came into this year’s tournament seeded fourth after finishing second in Region 5 and second in District 18, both times falling to defending state champion Sonny Amato of Rumson-Fair Haven. He ran into Amato again, this time in the state semifinals, and after falling 6-3 in districts and 11-3 in regions, and Mele made the most of his final shot at him in high school with a 3-2 win.

“I was more nervous before the state championship than anything else,” said Mele. “I was so nervous. But I just fell back on my training. And I fell back on the words of my coaches and the words of my family and just had faith that it was going to be all right and that I was going to perform at my best. I kind of tried to put aside the desire to win and just focused on doing the next small thing that would get me my goal.”

Mele’s third meeting of the year with Amato on Friday was much different than his first two. He got through the first period scoreless and then it was Mele who took a 3-0 lead in the second period. In each of their first meetings this year, he had trailed, 3-0, after the first period.

“He’s a great wrestler,” said Mele. “I’ve lost to him twice obviously and in both matches I got behind early, and he’s not the type of wrestler that you want to be behind on. You don’t want to be in a deficit against him. So jumping out to the lead kinda of told me that the stuff that I’ve been working on in practice was working and it put me in the mentality of everything is going to plan and it really allowed me to calm some of the nerves.”

Wired from the semifinal match and with the state final ahead, Mele tried to compartmentalize again, to focus on doing all the little things. He didn’t sleep well Friday night, but he also didn’t want to get too wrapped up in his semifinal win that guaranteed at least a silver medal.

“We didn’t train all year to beat one guy,” said Monzo. “We trained all year to be a state champ. I told him, now you have to finish the job because beating him is great. It’s redemption. But the job is not done yet. We came down here on a mission and our mission, our vision quest, was to win a title.”

Mele did so in total control through the final. After a scoreless first period, he went up 3-0 on a takedown in the second period. He was up 4-1 after an escape early in the third period and built the final margin with a late takedown. Seconds later, he could raise his hands as a state champion, something that was recognized by others at school Monday, but still hadn’t quite registered.

“It’s been pretty surreal,” said Mele, who finished the season 31-2.

“A lot of emotions. A lot of emotions and I’m still kind of getting used to being a New Jersey state champion. But I’m getting there and I’m starting to feel what it means, which is pretty cool.”

Those trips back from AC have seemed long some years, but nothing like the journey to the top for Mele. He didn’t win a match as a freshman state qualifier – something that freshman Forest Rose did for PHS this year with a win Thursday. He didn’t get to the podium sophomore year either, but set himself up with a sixth place finish junior year, and made the leap this year by giving Almeyda his only loss of the season.

“It brings back some bitterness from my past, but at the same time makes this moment so much sweeter because in the past, every year I would leave upset,” said Mele. “I would never leave happy and I would always feel like I was letting down people that believed in me. And this year, I righted the wrong and that was that was big for me.”

Mele is a homegrown talent. He grew up in the Princeton Wrestling Club and is the first to bring home a title to the Tigers at the high school boys level.

“That’s the start of something special,” said Mele. “It means a lot for me to give back to the program and give back to all the people who have helped me and invested time into helping me and this state championship is a way for me to do that. It’s a way for me to give back and it’s a way for me to show that all that effort and all that belief wasn’t for nothing.”

Monzo has been thrilled to see him grow into a champion at PHS. He was just the third to medal at states, and now sealed his place in school history.

“This couldn’t happen to a better kid,” said Monzo. “He’s a kid that that stayed home, that tried to prove to the world and to the state of New Jersey that you don’t need to go to that nationally ranked private or parochial school even if they’re knocking at your door and if they’re making calls and they’re looking and they’re reaching out. You know you can do it at home if you just believe in yourself and you believe in the coaches and what they’re going to give you.”

Mele won’t be going far after graduation either. He’ll stay close to home to continue to wrestle at Princeton University. He’ll join the Tigers program after reaching the pinnacle of his home state’s competition.

“It gives me confidence, but the same belief is still there,” said Mele. “I’m still the same wrestler. It kind of validates a lot of my hard work, and it’s definitely going to give me confidence in the future, but at the same time, you know, it’s just an achievement and I still have goals I want to accomplish down the road. To accomplish those goals, I’m going to have to continue to work hard and continue to do the right things on and off the mat.”

Mele did everything he had to in his final state championship. While outsiders may have doubted him, he lived up to his own and his close supporters’ expectations when he delivered a title that will never be forgotten, even if it its significance is still hard to realize.

“Just the fact that it’s eternalized,” said Mele. “Nobody can ever take away the fact that I’m a New Jersey state champion. And in some states, that’s not really a big deal. But in New Jersey it’s a big deal and there’s no running from that and in this area there’s only been four men to win. And in Princeton, I’m the first.”