Castellano advances on “Gladiator” show

Photo by ED MATTHEWS, Staff

Annie Castellano poses for a portrait inside her family's restaurant, The Capri Fish House, on Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Castellano will appear in an episode of American Gladiators on Monday, July 7, 2008.

She took her bumps and bruises, but Annie Castellano of Isles of Capri, advances on the “American Gladiators.”

“It was grueling and she (Gladiator) hit pretty darn hard, but I won,” Castellano said.

Her second-round match will be at 8 p.m. on Aug. 4 on NBC. For those who missed the show, it airs again on Friday night at the same time.

While they did not go head-to-head until the eliminator round when each was timed through an extremely difficult course, Castellano said youth made the difference. She went up against a 52-year-old woman.

“I think my conditioning program helped, but I also had 32 years on her,” the 20-year-old college student said.

Both women were slammed or tossed onto mats.

In jousting, Castellano took some hard hits, but gave some back. She didn’t get knocked off her platform into water, but lost her balanced and fell onto the Gladiator’s platform, causing a disqualification. Her competitor got knocked into the water.

When they got to the eliminator, Castellano got a one-second head start because she was ahead on points, 10 to 9.

Castellano took her falls, but charged onto the win, while her opponent didn’t have the stamina to make it competitive at the end.

Castellano’s parents, Mike and Theresa, watched the taped show from home, while Annie viewed the show with some friends in Boston where she grew up.

The family came to Marco Island after buying the Capri Fish House Restaurant.

“Looking back on it (show), the Gladiators went for blood,” Castellano said. “Watching it on television I felt the hits. It was crazy. I actually had a good time.”