Hall of Fame induction a happy homecoming for Valley, North Carolina wrestling standout | Trib HSSN

By:

Mark Nitowski

Joe Galli didn’t lose many matches whereas wrestling at Valley Excessive Faculty within the mid-Nineteen Seventies. However when he did, the individuals round New Kensington took discover.

Whatever the time of day or climate, Galli responded to a setback on the mat by embarking on a seven-mile run up and down a few of the hilliest streets in his hometown.

“Folks would see me working in horizontal winds with ice pelting and snow,” he recalled. “They might name my mother and say, ‘Your son is working. Is Joey OK? Is he out of his thoughts?’”

Galli relied on these grueling runs as a motivational instrument.

“I did it as a psychological factor, like, ‘I’m higher than this.’ However I additionally thought I needed to do extra (bodily) to recover from the hump,” he mentioned.

Galli did greater than recover from the hump. He turned the primary Valley wrestler to advance to a WPIAL championship match and compete within the PIAA event. He went on to the College of North Carolina, the place he was a four-year letterman, workforce captain and ACC champion.

For his wrestling prowess, Galli is amongst these scheduled for induction into the Alle-Kiski Sports activities Corridor of Fame on Could 20 on the Pittsburgh Shrine Heart in Harmar.

Galli, who lives in Florida, was inducted into the Nationwide Wrestling Corridor of Fame & Museum in 2016. He described his emotions about moving into the 2 halls as “drastically completely different.”

“The nationwide corridor of fame is prestigious, however nobody there is aware of you personally,” he mentioned. “I grew up in New Kensington and discovered methods to wrestle there. That’s dwelling.”

Galli credit Moe Guin, the legendary New Kensington YMCA youth wrestling coach, with recruiting him to the game. A 2011 A-Okay Sports activities Corridor of Fame inductee, Guin spied Galli in a gymnastics class as a sixth grader and satisfied him to maneuver to the wrestling program.

“Moe was my hero and mentor, and adjusted my life,” Galli mentioned. “I used to be little in highschool. I wrestled at 91 kilos as a junior and I used to be a 105-pounder as a senior. With out wrestling, I wouldn’t have had a sport.”

A 1976 Valley graduate, Galli compiled a 21-2 document as a senior, along with his solely losses coming within the WPIAL last (by one level) and within the PIAA tourney’s second spherical. He was chosen for the Dapper Dan Wrestling Basic, the place he upset a three-time Ohio state champion.

That efficiency caught the attention of then North Carolina wrestling coach Invoice Lam. After the match, he provided Galli a scholarship to wrestle for the Tar Heels.

As a school freshman, Galli grew 5 inches. He developed right into a four-year starter in varied weight lessons, capturing the ACC title at 142 kilos as a senior.

“My first three years I misplaced within the semifinals and took third within the ACC,” he mentioned. “Lastly, I received the entire thing my senior yr. It was an effective way to complete up.”

Galli’s last faculty match got here with some further stress. The Tar Heels wanted him to document a pin to clinch the ACC workforce crown. He responded with a first-period fall over a nationally ranked wrestler.

“I achieved my particular person aim, however it was 5 instances extra highly effective as a result of my workforce received the ACC,” he mentioned.

Since graduating from UNC in 1980, Galli has utilized the teachings discovered in wrestling to assist attain appreciable success within the enterprise world. He presently is the chief government officer at Techtronic Industries, which had $13.3 billion in gross sales in 2002 with 44,000 workers. Thought-about a worldwide chief within the energy instruments business, TTI’s manufacturers embrace Milwaukee, Ryobi and Hoover.

“I’ve labored onerous to present again to the game of wrestling,” he mentioned. “Proper now, now we have 27 former Division I wrestlers working for us, together with two Olympians and 6 nationwide champions.

“I’m not doing it to be gratuitous. I’m doing it as a result of a wrestler who develops the basic success components – the grit and dedication, the power to get knocked down and get again up, the need to win – might be superb in a company atmosphere.”

Whereas Galli’s profession has taken him away from dwelling, he nonetheless seems to get again to the Pittsburgh space as a lot as attainable.

“I like Pittsburgh – and I like the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins,” Galli mentioned. “I’ve been everywhere in the world and a few individuals simply don’t perceive it. They have a look at Pittsburgh as a smoke stack and metal mill metropolis. However whenever you come via the tunnels and see these rivers at evening, there’s nothing higher.”

If you happen to go

52nd A-Okay Valley Sports activities Corridor of Fame induction

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Could 20

The place: Pittsburgh Shrine Heart, Harmar

Tickets: $40. There will probably be no tickets bought on the door.

Contact: Larry Lutz, 724-822-3695; Fred Soilis, 412-736-1809; Invoice Heasley, 724-882-3079

Tags: Valley