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player ready...Haley Augello is on the brink of realizing her Olympic dream, but some people just don’t get it.
“A lot of people say, “You look like a gymnast,'” said the 5-foot-2 Augello, finding some humor in the situation.
Guess again.
The Lockport native is one of the best female wrestlers in the country, evident by her 48-kilogram championship (105.5 pounds) at the Olympic Trials in Iowa City, Iowa.
“Especially as a girl, it catches people off guard,” Augello said. “When people picture wrestlers, they picture strong, jacked people.”
That’s not to say she isn’t powerfully built, both mentally and physically.
Augello cut her teeth competing against the boys and started on the boys varsity wrestling team as a freshman — she’s a 2013 Lockport grad — before switching to freestyle wrestling midway through high school.
“When she was training with us, she was wrestling against (Stanford’s) Brian Rossi, (Illinois’) Dan Radcliffe and Dom Naso — all state-placers,” said Lockport coach Josh Oster, who’s known Augello since she started club wrestling at 8 years old. “She beat the boys all the time.”
At the Olympic Trials, Augello defeated a world bronze medalist in the semifinals before dispatching Victoria Anthony, a two-time junior world champion, in the finals.
“A lot of people thought I was the underdog,” Augello said. “Not to sound cocky, but I knew I was going to win. I was ready. I beat them in practice, and people would say, ‘Oh, it’s practice, a match is different.’
“But I had all these instances where I knew I should win. I know myself, my body, how it compares to other people. I feel my wrestling IQ is pretty high. I don’t waver from my game plan or what I’m doing.”
Augello now heads to Mongolia to seal her spot in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She must finish in the top three, though she’ll have another chance to qualify in May if she doesn’t reach the podium.
But the what-ifs of not qualifying aren’t on her mind. Augello is letting go of her nerves, just not her opponents.
“I used to feel really nervous, had a lot of pressure,” Augello said. “I didn’t want to let anyone down. So many people put their time into you, hours and hours of their time, but you have to put that in the back of your mind and not worry about not coming through or disappointing anyone.
“I opened up. I let go of the nerves I had over letting people down. Letting go helps.”
While training for the Olympics, Augello is taking a redshirt season at King University. She won back-to-back Women’s College Wrestling Association national championships at 116 pounds for King in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
“I still have two more years,” Augello said. “I plan to go back to King after this year and get my degree.”
First things first.
“I feel confident I’ll qualify and get it done (in Mongolia),” Augello said. “It’s always been the goal to make the Olympics. In women’s freestyle wrestling, it’s the highest goal you can have, to bring home a medal.”
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Logan Malloy is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.