Gardiner Area High School junior Peter Del Gallo finished as the runner-up in the 120-pound junior division at the NHSCA High School National Wrestling Championships, held this weekend at Virginia Beach, Va.

Del Gallo was the No. 2 seed, and lost on Sunday to top-ranked Devan Turner of California, 6-4 in overtime. According to calgrappler.com, a website for California high school wrestling, Turner has already verbally committed to wrestle at Division I Drexel University in the fall of 2016.

Over the weekend, Del Gallo won five straight matches, beating wrestlers from South Carolina, Missouri, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The bracket on the NHSCA site has Del Gallo defeating Codi Russell of Georgia, 3-2, in the semifinals, but Del Gallo said he actually won by pin.

“I pinned him with a cradle,” Del Gallo said. “I was winning 9-2 in the third period, so I pretty much dominated the whole match.”

On his match with Turner, Del Gallo said, “I could have wrestled better.”

This was Del Gallo’s third straight year competing at nationals. As a freshman, he placed fourth at 106. Last spring, he was second at 113.

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“It’s definitely an accomplishment,” Del Gallo said of finishing second this year. “It’s not what I wanted, but it turns out how it does.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo


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