By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff
Peter Del Gallo, a two-time state champion from Gardiner Area High School, earned All-American honors over the weekend by placing second in his weight class at the 25th annual National High School Coaches Association Wrestling Championships in Virginia Beach, Va.
Del Gallo, competing in the sophomore 113-pound division, won five straight decisions by a combined score of 61-1 to reach Sunday’s championship final, where he was edged by Josh McClure of Fulton, Mo., 4-3.
Del Gallo earned All-American honors for the second straight year after placing fourth in the freshman 106-pound division last spring. He also was the Class B state champion at 113 pounds this winter after winning the state Class B and New England 106-pound titles in 2013.
Del Gallo was one of 15 Maine high school wrestlers to compete at this year’s nationals and one of three to earn All-American honors.
Cody Hughes and Bradley Beaulieu, teammates at Marshwood High School of South Berwick, also posted top-eight finishes in their weight classes.
Hughes, the 2013 national champion in the sophomore 152-pound division, finished third in the same weight class as a junior this year to earn All-American honors for the third straight season. He was fourth in at 138 pounds as a freshman.
The three-time Maine Class A individual champion won his first five matches to reach the championship semifinals before dropping a 3-1 decision to New Mexico’s Miguel Barreras. Hughes then won two consolation-round matches, including a 12-4 major decision over Florida’s Isaiah Crosby in the third-place match.
Beaulieu earned his All-American status with a seventh-place finish in the freshman 113-pound division, pinning New York’s Anthony Cirillo at 5:10 of the seventh-place match.
Among other Maine wrestlers who competed at the nationals were Trent Goodman, Dagan Berenyi and Connor Petros, all teammates at Ellsworth High School and the local Wrestler’s Way wrestling club.
Goodman went 3-2 in the freshman 145-pound weight division, while Berenyi won two of his four matches in the sophomore 138-pound class and Petros went 0-2 in the sophomore 145-pound division.
Two central Maine wrestlers, Aaron Lint of Winslow and Julian Sirois, went 0-2 in their appearances at the nationals, Lint in the senior 285-pound class and Sirois in the sophomore 132-pound division.
Other Mainers at the nationals were senior Tyler Everett of Massabesic of Waterboro (0-2 at 126 pounds); juniors Jackson Howarth of Marshwood (3-2 at 160), Michael Rista of Massabesic (2-2 at 195), Michael Curtis of Wells (1-2 at 195), Brett Gerry of Marshwood (0-2 at 182) and Tanner Andrews of Massabesic (0-2 at 220); and freshman Trevor Walton of Massabesic (0-2 at 170).