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Olympic Dreams’ Colangelo heads to nationals
Olympic Dreams’ Colangelo heads to nationals
By Dan Hiner
Dylan Colangelo was kind of a hyper child. The 4-year-old was “bouncing off the walls.”
His aunt came up with a creative solution: gymnastics.
Years later, the Austintown Fitch junior is heading to the Junior Olympic National Championships for the third consecutive year.
“I was doing, like, roundoffs and backhand springs since I was about 4 years old, and kind of went that route,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo and his coach Gary Toussaint left for Reno, Nev., on Sunday to prepare for the event. Nationals begin on Tuesday.
To qualify, Colangelo had to advance in state and regionals.
“For regionals, you have to get a certain allotment, you have to be in the top 46,” Colangelo said. “I was in that allotment.
“It was a good meet. It was OK. I was 36th, so I made it in.”
Colangelo will compete in all six events. His performance in the individual events will determine if he advances in any particular area.
Going into the meet, Colangelo is confident in the rings and vault, his favorite events.
“Rings takes a lot of strength,” Colangelo said. “It’s mostly a strength-based event. Vault, you need a lot of power to pop off the horse. I guess I’m decently good at that.”
The regional meet took place in Indiana during the beginning of April. So Colangelo had about a month to prepare for nationals.
But the time off isn’t too much of factor for him.
“I just gotta work my butt off until I get to nationals, and just focus on that day,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo also played baseball when he was younger, but described himself as “the kid in the outfield picking daisies.”
His parents didn’t have the money to afford both sports. He chose to continue gymnastics when his parents asked him to pick a sport.
“You’re more involved, you have teammates,” Colangelo said. “And you excel better — for me anyway.”
Colangelo spends most of his free time at Olympic Dreams in Liberty. He leaves school and practices at the facility until it closes.
In all, he spends approximately 20 hours in the gym — four hours a day, five days a week.
“It’s very time consuming, which I don’t mind, actually,” Colangelo said. “Sometimes I do wish I could hangout with friends but I’m very dedicated to this sport, and I don’t think I’d sacrifice it for anything.”
The junior hopes the hard work will pay off in the future.
Colangelo admits men’s gymnastics not a growing sport. But he hopes his performances will get him into college.
He wants to continue his gymnastics career at the next level, hoping to impress a school like Ohio State or Penn State. He was named an Academic All-American through gymnastics.
“I thought about political science, maybe get into politics,” Colangelo said. “I’ve thought about law enforcement. Those two I’m off and on.”
Colangelo finished sixth in the vault at the 2017 nationals in Kissimmee, Fla. It was his best finish at a nationals meet.
“My ultimate goal is to place in the top 10, maybe, and just do my best,” Colangelo said.