Greg Varela is entering his third full season as the Los Gatos High wrestling coach, and he said this year’s squad could be his best one yet.
The Wildcats open the season on Dec. 3 in the Chukchansi Invitational at Madera South High, the first of six ultra-competitive tournaments spanning each weekend in December and early January before they start the league dual-meet season.
“We’re solid and very good,” said Varela, whose squad is No. 2 in the Central Coast Section and 28th in the state preseason rankings according to the California Wrestler/ccsrank.com. “The good thing is we have a very young team with just one or two seniors.”
Which means the best is yet to come for a rising Los Gatos program. The Wildcats have eight wrestlers who are ranked in the top 10 in the section in their weight class, highlighted by junior Anthony Pavlov-Ramirez and freshman Dillon Pile. Pavlov-Ramirez is ranked second in the CCS and 14th in the state at 138 pounds, while Pile is No. 1 in the CCS and 10th in the state at 154 pounds.
“Dillon is a hard-working kid who’s been with the wrestling club in town and has put in a lot of work traveling all over the country for tournaments and different training camps,” Varela said. “He’s paid his dues and is walking in as a battle-tested kid. He’s been on the bubble of the national rankings which says a lot.”
Ramirez is the team’s top returner, having finished fourth the last time the CCS Championships were contested, in February 2020. That season, Pavlov-Ramirez was wrestling in the 120 pound division. He’s jumped up three weight classes as he’s grown into his body, though come the end of the season, Pavlov-Ramirez could move down a weight class, depending on the circumstances.
“I think 138 suits me pretty well, but who knows what happens later in the year,” he said. “Maybe I go up, maybe I go down.”
Other top Los Gatos wrestlers include Timmy Murabito at 122 pounds, Peter Bowen at 128, E.J. Parco at 134, Daniil Gorshkov at 170, Sergiy Nyzhnyk at 182 and Om Shastri at 195. For the girls team, Veloria Pannell leads the way as she is ranked third in the CCS at 126 pounds.
Varela said Ramirez brings a certain vibe to the wrestling room that makes all of his teammates better.
“He’s training hard but also has a healthy attitude about training,” Varela said. “He’s good to be around, people gravitate toward him and he has good energy. He helps raise the level of the room.”
Ramirez has been wrestling since he was in the fifth grade and gained inspiration from his older brother Alexander, who was a standout wrestler at Los Gatos High before graduating last May.
“My older brother was a big inspiration and a very strategic wrestler,” Anthony said. “He loved the sport with a true passion and I wanted to be like that as well.”
Ramirez loves being on the attack and imposing his physicality on opponents. On top position, he wants to be aggressive and on the bottom he aims to utilize his quickness and agility for escapes and return to a strong position on the mat.
The standout competed in the unofficial state invitational tournament last March, scoring a couple of wins over opponents ranked above him. Ramirez’s showing gave him a lot of confidence to compete with and beat some of the best wrestlers in the state.
“I remember looking at the (giant) scoreboard after one of my matches and having the biggest smile ever,” he said. “It was such an incredible experience to go there for the first time ever in a state tournament setting.”
As a freshman, Ramirez took fourth in the CCS Championships at 120. Just as important, he got to watch then-teammates Thomas Mailhot and Marcus Murabito advance to the CIF State Tournament. Murabito won the third-place match at 138 pounds in a nail-biter, 2-1, while Mailhot won all five of his matches via pinfall to take the CCS title at 182 pounds—the Wildcats’ lone section champion since 2018.
“They were a huge inspiration since they were the older kids on the team and had so much influence in the mat room,” Ramirez said. “That’s what I wanted to be.”
Indeed, Varela said Ramirez is one of the leaders in the room and is expected to be strong throughout the season. Ramirez has lofty goals this season and aims to be a top three finisher in the state meet. To reach that goal, Ramirez said he’ll need to improve upon a variety of things, including superior technique and to be mentally sharp.
“Sometimes, I don’t hear coach during the matches and that will be important for me to be more aware, especially against No. 1 seed Donte Lopez (of Gilroy High),” Ramirez said. “That is a match in CCS that I can’t wait for so I’ll need to improve on all those things drastically.”
The next major point of emphasis for the Los Gatos program is to start a campaign fundraiser to renovate the wrestling room befitting of a powerhouse team Varela envisions that will challenge for CCS championships on a yearly basis.
“We want to bring the wrestling room up to speed and the more the community can help, the better,” Varela said.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at el**@we*****.com and (831) 886-0471, ext. 3958.
