Dennis Puleo began a 42-year teaching and coaching career in 1969, when he took the helm of a Tewksbury High School wrestling program that, in only its second year, garnered a Merrimack Valley Conference league title. Four years later, Dennis became the head wrestling coach at Masconomet Regional High School, where he spent the next 30 years teaching and coaching several sports, including football, baseball and softball, and wrestling. Puleo quickly brought the fledgling Masconomet wrestling program to prominence, earning a league title and numerous runner-up finishes in the tough Cape Ann League conference.

After retiring from Masconomet in 2003, Dennis rejuvenated a struggling Pentucket Regional High School wrestling program. Since that time, the Pentucket program has flourished under Puleo's leadership, producing numerous Cape Ann League and Division 3 Sectional champions.

A three-sport athlete at Saugus High School, Puleo matriculated at Northeastern University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Education. Dennis would later earn a Master of Science Degree in Education from Simmons College. It was while attending Northeastern that Puleo joined the wrestling club and fell in love with the sport of wrestling.

Dennis would share his enthusiasm for wrestling with countless wrestlers throughout his coaching career, accruing over 425 victories and coaching more than 200 Sectional, State and New England place finishers and champions. In recognition of his stellar record, Dennis has received Boston Globe, Cape Ann League, and Division 2 Sectional Coach-of-the-Year awards. During his career, Dennis has been an active member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Wrestling Coaches Association (MIWCA), serving on the Ethics Committee and the Awards Committee. He was the Division 2 North Sectional Chairman for 8 years and the MIWCA Division Two Vice-President for 24 years. Puleo has been inducted into the MIWCA Hall of Fame (1994), the Masconomet Regional High School Wrestling Hall of Fame (2009) and the Council of New England Secondary School Principals' Association Wrestling Hall of Fame (2010).

Puleo, now retired from teaching, substitutes occasionally and continues to coach wrestling at Pentucket Regional High School in West Newbury, where he resides with his wife of 43 years, Susan. They enjoy spending time with their two children, Deborah and Stephen, and their spouses Jamie and Julie. Dennis and Susan are thrilled to have the opportunity to watch their five grandchildren - Emma, Sam, Max, Weston and Ella - participate in a variety of sports. Although there are no wrestlers in the Puleo clan yet, Weston (3 years old) looks to be a natural grappler.

Dennis enjoys keeping in touch with his former wrestlers, some of whom have become good friends. Always thinking of his wrestlers as an extension of his family, Dennis has been a positive influence on hundreds of athletes, teaching the values of teamwork, a strong work ethic, and good sportsmanship.

In recognition of his many contributions to the Massachusetts wrestling community, Dennis Puleo is being honored by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his Lifetime Achievement in Wrestling.