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Howell’s Mays completes perfect 2021 season; wins 160-pound state title ×
Howell High School junior wrestler Hunter Mays celebrates winning the 160-pound state championship with his parents on April 25 at Phillipsburg High School. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN GAGLIANO
HOWELL – The 2021 wrestling season was a banner first year on the mat with the Howell High School wrestling team for Hunter Mays.
Mays, a junior 160-pounder, went 16-0 and became Howell’s fourth state champion on April 25 with a 6-5 victory over Kingsway’s Dakota Morris. The state tournament was held at Phillipsburg High School.
“It feels awesome,” Mays said about winning a state crown. “It feels great. All my hard work paid off.”
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From the time he took over as the head coach at his alma mater, Howell has reached unprecedented heights and become one of New Jersey’s best wrestling programs. Now, John Gagliano has reached a milestone no other area coach has achieved.
With the Rebels’ 69-9 victory over Piscataway on Tuesday, Gagliano became the first wrestling coach in Shore Conference history to reach 500 career wins. In 24 seasons leading Howell, Gagliano has a career record of 500-79.
Gagliano was a district and region champion for Howell during the mid-1980s when Howell was a good program but nowhere near the juggernaut it is today. Before Gagliano took over as the head coach, Howell had won six division titles and six district titles while having 60 wrestlers win district titles, 16 claim region championships and 12 wrestlers take home state medals - including 1965 state champion Carlos Fontanez - between 1965 and 1997.