VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- Early in his elementary school days, Matt Deangelo was just following in his older brother's footsteps. It led him straight to the wrestling mat.
"I would see my brother wrestling and I would go out at the end of practice and play games like Sharks and Minnows," he recalled. "Then I was like 'yeah, this seems kind of fun.'"
"I met Matt in fifth grade," remembered Ocean Lakes head coach Chris Barnhart. "We'd go back and forth taking him home from club and stuff like that and Matt always had high goals for himself, but he was driven with those goals."
Fast forward and he's the future of Ocean Lakes wrestling, suiting up as a ninth grader for the Dolphins varsity squad. For freshmen like Deangelo and Hayden McAndrews, getting used to the varsity level can take some adjustments.
"It was definitely a big jump from middle school, having to definitely adjust," noted McAndrews. "But putting in a lot of work, working really hard helped a lot."
"Once I got into high school and doing high school competitions, I was a little nervous before my matches," Deangelo said. "It's a different level of competition, but doing stuff in the preseason, I did a lot of really tough tournaments."
This past weekend, Deangelo showed that the future is now, taking down everybody in his path on his way to a Class 5 state championship at 120 lbs. He marks the first freshman to claim a state crown for the Dolphins in Barnhart's 18 years of leading the program.
"It was a big relief because I knew that was his ultimate one step at a time," Barnhart pointed out. "It was nice to see all the Ocean Lakes people and parents and representatives be so proud of him."
"There were a lot of people who were really proud of me and helped me get there," added Deangelo. "That was nice to see everybody happy for me."
"Everybody loves him," said junior wrestler Skiles Burkhead, who finished state runner-up at 113 lbs. "He's such a great teammate. It was very nice. The energy of everybody just being there and being so proud of him when he won that state title."
Deangelo is quick to credit the guys who are alongside him in the wrestling room. McAndrews and Burkhead are two of his most consistent training partners and push him to reach higher.
"[Skiles] used to beat me up a lot," he smiles. "Hayden's always trying to do weird, funky stuff on me, so it kind of prepares me."
Now he's preparing for three more years of varsity high school wrestling with a target on his back. The Dolphins believe that plenty of pins lie ahead for Deangelo and the rest of the pod.
"It's a privilege to have talent and have people around you that want to help you and see you wrestle," he said.
"We're going to have a great year next year," declared McAndrews. "We're going to have a lot of people on that podium and I'm just so excited to see everybody enjoy it and be there with them."
Deangelo's talents stretch far beyond the wrestling mat. He's a member of the Math and Science Academy at Ocean Lakes and is a straight A student.
