Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Former Los Gatos wrestling star Jim Walker finished second in the 163-pound weight class at the Western Regional Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Trials held in San Jose.

Former Wildcat pins second at Olympic freestyle trials

By Dick Sparrer

It's been more than a decade since Jim Walker was starring on the wrestling mat at Los Gatos High.

Walker has long since left Los Gatos. But the former Wildcat hasn't left the mat, nor has he left his star status behind.

The former Los Gatos star recently finished second in the 163-pound weight class at the Western Regional Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Trials held in San Jose.

Walker was a four-year varsity wrestler at Los Gatos. He won three league titles for the Wildcats and capped his prep career with a Central Coast Section crown. He was a two-time state placer for then-head coach Brian Ganz.

Walker went on to wrestle at the University of Wisconsin. His coach coach was the late Dave Schultz, a former world and Olympic champion.

The 1985 Gatos grad still competes as a member of the Stanford-based Pleasure Point Freestyle Wrestling Club. He coaches wrestling at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, and he teaches physical education at Brighton Middle School in Capitola.

Last summer, Walker placed third in the 180-pound class at the California State Senior Freestyle Championships in Sacramento.

Hedrick pins second

Another former Los Gatos wrestling star, Pete Hedrick, is still starring on the mat--but now at Brigham Young University.

The 1988 Gatos grad finished second in his weight class at the Western Athletic Conference finals and earned a berth in the prestigious NCAA Tournament.

Hedrick is a former league champion for the Wildcats.

Murphy at Galveston

Blair Murphy, a former Los Gatos baseball sensation, is now a pitcher on the staff at Galveston College in Galveston, Texas.

Murphy, a sophomore righthander, was an all-league and all-CCS player for the Wildcats. He was picked to play in the prestigious North-South All-Star game following his senior season at Gatos in 1994.

The former Cat, who has been drafted twice by the Milwaukee Brewers, went on to De Anza College to play for a season before transferring to Galveston.

Varozza helps 'Dogs

Julie Varozza, a 1995 Los Gatos graduate, finished a solid freshman season on the University of Georgia women's swimming team with a third in the 500-meter freestyle at the Southeastern Conference finals.

The former high school All-American finished third in 4:49.78 to help the Lady Bulldogs to a team second in the conference meet. Varozza was also fourth in the 1,650 free in 16:34.35. She also recorded Georgia's top times this year in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650 free events.

Lannes at Bucknell

Antonio Lannes is a sophomore star in the swimming pool at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., this spring.

Lannes, a water polo and swimming sensation at Los Gatos, is playing both sports at Bucknell, and recently was second in the 200 free and third in the 100 in a win over Steon Hall. Lannes recorded season-best times of 1:48.34 in the 200 and 49.09 in the 100 in the meet. He was also a member of the winning free relay team.

Holloway at Wheaton

Abby Holloway of Los Gatos is the starting left fielder as a sophomore at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill.

Holloway, a graduate of Valley Christian, had two hits, walked twice, scored a run and knocked in another, and stole two bases for the Crusaders in a recent 11-3 win over St. Mary's of Indiana. She leads her club in stolen bases this spring, and is among the team leaders in runs scored, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Sutter stars

Former Los Gatos tennis star Jeremy Sutter is playing in the No. 1 singles spot in his senior season at the University of Illinois.

Sutter holds down the No. 1 spot on the Fighting Illini ladder for the second straight year, and he got off to a solid start this spring with wins in matches against the University Notre Dame, Indiana, Miami of Ohio and Ball State. He was Illinois' most valuable player as a junior and won all-Big 10 honors.

Softball stars

With the success of the softball programs at Los Gatos and Leigh over the past few seasons, it's not surprising to see a number of former Wildcats and Longhorns playing in the college ranks.

Gatos 1992 grad Kate Walsh went on to play at Stanford, and two '93 graduates are still active--Jessica Accord, at Santa Clara University, and Tara Mills, at UC Santa Barbara. Shannon Sullivan, a 1995 Gatos grad, is now playing at Michigan State.

Leigh graduates still active in college softball include Dana Colla and Meme Colla, both at Central Michigan; Terry Sheey, Cal Poly; Jamie Maher, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas; Shayne McDonald, St. Mary's; and Courtney Capilla, DePaul University.