During the 2014-15 and 2015-16 New Hampshire high school wrestling campaigns, Pinkerton Academy star grappler Dylan Barreiro has made himself something of a legend in Granite State wrestling circles.
But if someone were to ask Barreiro about that fact, chances are right around 100 percent that he’d give them a self-conscious smile and walk away, stating that he had to go put in another workout.
The Pinkerton senior wowed the state’s wrestling community as an 11th grader during the winter campaign of 2014-15 by winning Division I, Meet of Champions (MOC), New England, and then national championships.
Barreiro is now just one step away from duplicating that exceptional quartet of feats at the tail-end of the 2015-16 wrestling campaign.
The 195-pound weight class powerhouse has already claimed D-I, Meet of Champions, and New England titles this season, and he will be at the 27th annual National High School Coaches Association National Wrestling Championships in Virginia Beach, Va., from April 1-3 trying to repeat as a national champ as well.
Coaches and teammates marvel at Barreiro’s intensity and work ethic, but the 2015-16 season hasn’t been without its challenges and adversity for the intimidating grappler. And at a great many points, beating opponents on the mat has been the least of the Pinkerton star’s problems.
Barreiro had to settle for receiving forfeit after forfeit victory in his weight class during the regular season because, in a great many cases, opposing coaches didn’t want to put a grappler face to face with Barreiro, only to have that athlete vanquished quickly.
And without consistent chances for competition during Pinkerton matches, Barreiro chose to keep himself in great physical shape by working out with a personal trainer three days per week and in good mental condition by always being ready to take to the mat.
And a big battle with adversity came at the 2015-16 state Meet of Champions, with the Astros’ stalwart suffering badly from food poisoning.
Anyone who saw Barreiro walking around the Nashua North High School gym that day knew that he was well below 100 percent, but the PA grappler still throttled the competition quickly en route to another state title.
“It’s just a matter of my going out there and doing what I know I can do,” said Barreiro while re-filling on fluids prior to the championship matches at the Meet of Champs.
Barreiro then went on to bag his second New England title in Providence, R.I., during the first week of March, powering his way past worthy but rather clearly over-matched opponents to qualify for the nationals again.
CAPTION: Pinkerton Academy senior wrestling star Dylan Barreiro is in Virginia this week attempting to win another national championship.
