FREEPORT — The Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance will welcome three new members into its Hall of Fame later this summer.
The MAWA announced that Dan Del Gallo, Kevin Gray and Gary Dolloff will join the exclusive club at a ceremony set for Saturday, Aug. 19 at Mast Landing Brewing Company in Freeport.
Del Gallo enters the Hall of Fame after an incredible wrestling career at the high school and college levels. During his time at Gardiner High School, Del Gallo won three state titles and was a runner-up in his other varsity season. In total, he had a career record of 194-11, which included two second-place finishes at the New England Championships.
He would go on to compete at the University of Southern Maine, where the Gardiner native would put together the best career in program history.
In his four years, Del Gallo had a record of 137-19 and qualified for the Division III national tournament three times. He was also a four-time NWCA Scholar All-American and a two-time winner of the Elite 90 award for the highest GPA among NCAA Qualifiers.
Del Gallo wrapped up his college career by winning the 149-pound Division III National Championship. It was the first national title in the USM program’s history.
Gray wrestled at Noble High School from 1995 to 1998 and was a three-year varsity letter winner and team captain. He won state titles at 103 pounds in 1997 and 112 pounds in 1998.
Gray, who had 116 wins during his high school career, went on to wrestle at Division I Duquesne University from 1998 to 2002. He was a varsity starter as a junior and senior and was a captain in his final collegiate season.
After graduating from college, Gray returned to Noble as a volunteer assistant coach and was part of a run of state titles in the mid to late 2000s.
He has been the head coach at Noble for the past few seasons and has led the program to a pair of Maine Class A state team championships as well as a dual meet state crown.
Dolloff, who wrestled for Rumford High School, has been the head coach at Mountain Valley for over 20 years.
His first stint as head coach ran from 2001 to 2011. He would then return in 2013 and still coaches the program today.
During his tenure, Dolloff has a career dual meet record of 324-47 and has won three Class B State Team Championships. He has also won 10 regional team titles and nine Mid-State team championships.
Dolloff has coached 32 individual state champions and 72 regional champs. He has been named the Maine Wrestling Coach of the Year twice, in 2006 and 2011.
Along with his varsity coaching career, Dolloff was the Mountain Valley Middle School coach from 1987 to 2002. He won seven Pine Tree League crowns during his run at the middle school level.
In his community, Dolloff was the Greater Rumford Community Center Director for 27 years, and in 2018 he was named the Rumford Citizen of the Year.
The MAWA will present several other awards at this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony.
Noble’s Derek Cote has been named the John Caramihalis High School Wrestler of the Year, while USM’s Jake Peavey is the James Aguiar College Wrestler of the Year and Winslow’s Caden Trask has been selected to receive the Gary Kent Academic Scholarship.
Gray will be awarded the 2023 Coach of the Year award along with being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The 2023 MAWA Hall of Fame ceremony will be held at Mast Landing Brewing Company, which is located at 200 Lower Main Street in Freeport. Doors will open at 2 p.m. with a social time, including light refreshments and a cash bar, from 2-2:45 p.m., and the ceremony is set to begin at 2:45 p.m.
Tickets are $20 per person and must be pre-purchased by Aug. 14. Those interested in attending should send a check made payable to the Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance and a list of people attending to John Nicholas at 3 Carmichael Lane, Windham, ME, 04062.
For more information, contact John Nicholas at 207-332-9845.
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