Prior to the homecoming football game Friday night, Haley Augello became the youngest post-graduate member of the Lockport Township High School Athletic Hall of Fame - joining the elite group a mere three years after graduating in 2013. A former varsity wrestler, Augello, who is, so far, the only Lockport alum to have competed for the United States in the Olympics, finished in 9th place at the 48kg weight class at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the US Women's Wrestling Team.
Superintendent Dr. Todd Wernet contacted Coach Oster about honoring Haley in the right way and along with Athletic Director Jim Prunty the three planned a ceremony that did that for her. The ceremony started with Dr. Wernet introducing Haley to the crowd after the National Anthem. This was followed by School Board President John Lukasik presenting Haley with a resolution honoring her accomplishments. Jim Prunty then officially inducted Haley into the Hall of Fame. Haley's two head coaches at Lockport Joe Williams and Josh Oster accepted gifts to the school from Haley of an Olympic team singlet and jacket. Senior wrestlers Abdullah Assaf and Brandon Ramos helped to present these. Finally, Haley addressed the great crowd delivering a powerful message of committing to achieving great things and following through.
While she attended Lockport, Augello competed with the school wrestling team for two years. After winning a gold medal at the 2011 Cadet World Championships, Augello decided to turn her focus strictly to freestyle wrestling, ending her career as a "high school" wrestler. Augello still worked out and trained with her teammates here at Lockport, but did not compete for the Porters during her junior or senior years. Instead, however, she spent those final two years of high school competing in tournaments against the best women in the world at any age, let alone fellow high-school aged wrestlers, while still attending Lockport. Below is an updated career biography, which is based on one provided by Team USA.
Career Biography
2016: Ninth in Olympic Games... Second in 1st World Olympic Qualifier (Mongolia)… U.S. Olympic Team Trials champion… University Nationals champion… Second in 2016 U.S. Open
2015: Third in U.S. World Team Trials… Fifth in U.S. Open… Second in Dave Schultz Memorial International…
2014: Third in Pan American Championships… Second in UWW Junior Nationals…
2013: Competed in UWW Junior World Championships… Seventh in Pan American Championships… Fourth in Austrian Ladies Open… Second in U.S. Open… UWW Junior Nationals champion… Seventh in Pan American Championships… Pan American Championships Wrestle-off winner… Third in Klippan Lady Open…
2012: Minnesota Storm Holiday Cup champion… Second in New York AC International… Competed in UWW Junior World Championships… Fourth in Dave Schultz Memorial International… Seventh in U.S. Open… UWW Junior Nationals champion… U.S. Olympic Team Trials Qualifier...
2011: Cadet World champion… UWW Cadet Nationals champion
College: 2014 and 2015 WCWA Nationals champion for King University… Won every match by pin or technical superiority... Did not compete for King during the 2015-2016 season - spent a year training in Colorado at the Olympic Training Center
USA Age-Group: 2010 and 2011 Junior Nationals champion…
High School: Attended Lockport High School… 2012 and 2013 ASICS Girls High School Wrestler of the Year…
At just shy of 22 years old, Haley has a long career still waiting ahead of her, hopefully full of multiple gold medals along the way.
For more images, head to Sealy's website here and navigate through the 2016-17 Season folder.