March 13, 2002
Joe Galante’s career puts him in exclusive company
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
Joe Galante wasn’t sure what to do on Monday afternoon.
“It felt weird,” said the talented Ocean City High School senior, who had completed one of the great Raider
wrestling seasons the day before. “I got myself into a bad mood. I wasn’t doing what I normally do.”
What Galante normally does is win or prepare to win. He won 37 times this year and 117 times in his
career, putting him among the top five in Cape-Atlantic League history and second only to Pat Lynch at
Ocean City.
“My goal at the start of the season was to finish in the top three in the state,” he said. “When you get there
you change your goals. I really wanted to win it all. But, when I look back, there were two guys left and I
was one of them. That’s pretty cool.”
Cool, indeed. Galante joined Lynch and Greg Austin as the only OCHS wrestlers to wrestle in a state final.
And it was also announced this week that Galante was again a first-team selection on the CAL’s American
Conference all stars. It was his fourth straight selection, a rarity among Ocean City athletes.
The spectacular high school wrestling career that ended Sunday had its roots in youth wrestling. “My
father (Tony) was coaching the high school wrestling team with Mr. Nickles and, when I was six years old,
my mother would take me to the matches. Pat Lynch was my hero. I remember thinking that I’d like to do
that.”
Two years later, Galante was a state age group champion.
“It wasn’t until the sixth or seventh grade that I started to really focus on wrestling,” he said. “That was
when I began to think it was something I could dedicate myself to.”
After an all-conference year as a freshman, Joe became a district champion his sophomore year. He
repeated as a junior and again this season, becoming only the fourth Ocean City wrestler to win three
district titles.
The last two years, Joe was joined on the Ocean City varsity by his brother, Mike, a sophomore. Mike,
who wrestles two weight classes heavier of Joe, has won 51 matches in his first two seasons. “It has been
exciting, wrestling with Mike,” said Joe. “There have been ups and downs, even a few fights. But it’s been
great. Now he has to step it up. It’s his turn.”
The state finals were in the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall this year. And Galante liked the new surroundings.
“It was a great venue,” he said, “but I also liked the fact that I could sleep at home and eat home-cooked
meals. It was awesome.”
Since he was the only Ocean City wrestler in action last week, Galante had to travel to Absegami to
practice. “I worked out with Ryan Goodman, Ray Lamb and a few other guys from Absegami and other
schools,” he said. “It was great to see so many guys from the area do so well.”
Of course, just because his high school career is now in the history books doesn’t mean there isn’t
wrestling in Galante’s future. “We’re planning college visits this week,” he said. “I’m looking for a school
with a good wrestling team where the student body gets excited about sports. Most of the schools are in
the Virginia or North Carolina area.”
Even before he starts his college career, Galante is training for more wrestling. On Tuesday, he wrestled
Delaware’s top high school senior in an all star match in Delaware. And, from April 4-6 in Ohio, he will be
part of the Senior Nationals, a tournament that features the top high school seniors in the country.
A high school wrestling career that started with Pat Lynch as a hero has ended with Lynch-like success.
And probably with a lot of young boys who have become interested in wrestling the past few years by
watching Joe Galante.
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