Martin Middle School 8th grader Anthony Eaton made a promise to himself after he placed fourth in the state wrestling tournament a year ago as a 7th grader.

“I made a promise right after I got fourth in states that I would make sure it was my year, and I would win,” Eaton said in a recent interview. “But I always second-guess myself. It’s kind of a bad trait I have.”

There’s no reason for any second-guessing now.

Eaton dominated throughout the 2024/25 wrestling season, going 15-0 overall and 9-0 in two statewide meets, including a top finish at the state championships held over the first weekend of February, concluding with a 9-4 victory over Alijah Elefante from Chariho Middle School in the finals to secure the title, and an undefeated season.

“I was nervous, like really nervous,” Eaton said of his thoughts entering the championship match. “I was trying to feel him out but the second the match started, he just threw me. It was okay. I used my knowledge and went out of bounds so it would restart and I could get a second chance, which I took.”

Glen Salgueiro heads the coaching staff for the Martin Middle School team and spent two decades as the assistant wrestling coach for the high school before taking a six-year break from athletics. He said he felt fortunate to be able to coach a student athlete with as much drive as Eaton in his first year back as a coach for the district, although he gave Bob Rodericks the majority of the credit for coaching him last year.

“He’s a great kid,” Salgueiro said of Eaton. Always has a smile on his face and always puts the work in.”

Salgueiro said that the toughest enemy Eaton had to face throughout the undefeated season was himself, as Eaton had alluded to in his earlier answer about his nerves.

“He wants to do well. The biggest concern was him getting into his own head,” he said. “But he powered through it. We just kept talking to him. ‘Calm down, it’s fine, it’s just another match, there’s no difference. It’s just middle school, just do the best you can do and everyone is going to be proud of you.’”

And pride was in no short supply talking to Eaton’s mother, Leanne.

“I’m so proud of him. He’s played football and he’s good at football but when he said he wanted to do wrestling it kind of threw me. He had never mentioned it before…it just took me by surprise,” she said. “I’ve loved watching him. To me, wrestling has made him better in all aspects of life. I figure it creates a sense of discipline that you don’t necessarily see in all other sports. A sense of family, team, and discipline, and I’ve loved seeing it. Sometimes, believe it or not, he can lack confidence or get nervous. It’s been awesome for me to see him overcome that. He has so much more confidence than when he started wrestling in 7th grade.”

Eaton said that he planned to pursue wrestling when he gets to high school, and thanked his teammates, his coaches, and his family for helping him push through the doubts to earn an impressive end to an early chapter in his athletic career.

“I learned I have to go for it,” Eaton said about what he learned from the experience. “It’s just a wrestling match, at the end of the day.”