Gateway wrestling coach Ryan Sula said a mix of veteran leadership, returning youthful talent and others coming into the varsity and JV practice room is making for a competitive environment in the lead-up to the start of the season.
"It's always nice to have a high return rate and to still have them be a young group," said Sula, who welcomed back 10 wrestlers, seven of them underclassmen, who got at least 15 matches of varsity experience last year.
"It gives them another year for them to make a jump forward. It puts experience in the room and helps the kids who are starting at the varsity and JV level get better, too."
Leading that group of returnees is senior Luke Pawlowski, who fashioned an 18-9 record at 139 and 145 pounds in 2023-24 and qualified for his second trip to the WPIAL/Southwest Class 3A championships.
Of his 18 victories, 10 were by fall, and two others were by technical fall.
He enters his final varsity season 54-29 overall.
"Luke has the most experience on the team, and the rest of the kids really look up to him," Sula said. "He shows that leadership through hard work. He comes to practice and does what needs to be done.
"Luke was on the mat all year and wrestled all summer with the goal of getting better in all aspects, whether it is on his feet, his scrambling ability, or just having that will to escape when he's on bottom. He wrestled some tournaments this fall which really helped him."
Sophomore Braden Washington hopes to follow up a successful first varsity season where he went 16-9 at 133 with eight pinfall victories and another one by technical fall.
He said his goal this year is to get to the WPIAL championships, a spot denied him last year after not being able to place at the section tournament.
"Last year was a great year for me, but I want more this year," said Washington, who recovered over the summer from a fractured hip suffered during the spring baseball season.
He returned to training with Young Guns in September and worked twice a week through the fall.
"Not getting to WPIALs was motivation to make me work even harder," Washington said.
Sula said Washington gained a lot in his first varsity season.
"He started out 11-0 and then just got really banged up," Sula said.
"He was wrestling injured, which you never want, but it was good to see that fight and determination in his eyes. He handled the adversity pretty well."
Junior Donovan DeLuco, 17-15 last year at 172 and 189, seeks a repeat of qualifying for the WPIAL championships.
Eleven of his 17 wins in his first varsity season were by fall.
"I thought Donovan wrestled great down the stretch last year and had some great wins heading into sections," Sula said.
"At sections, he really wanted it and broke the kids he wrestled. Getting to experience the WPIAL tournament was great for him. I expect the latter half of last season to continue into this year. There now is that expectation for him to get to WPIALs rather than just hoping to get to WPIALs."
Junior TJ Mitchell (12-15 at 172/189); senior Connor Smith (10-11 at 145/152); juniors Troy Boden (12-12 at 127/133) and Kittim Highsmith (9-6 at 285); senior Sean Higson (9-9 at 127); and juniors Carl Jackson (4-11 at 160), Gavin Matthews (0-4 at 285), and Abdulwasay Syed (6-16 at 121/127) also are back looking to take that next step.
Sula said the team received a boost with five sophomores who all gained more experience wrestling in junior high last season.
"That helps the room a lot with them coming in and being competitive in practices," Sula said. "They all got a lot of matches, got some wins, and really built their confidence."
Sula said he hoped to see good things from all his wrestlers at a five-team home scrimmage last Saturday against North Catholic, West Mifflin, McKeesport and Yough.
Gateway hosts Armstrong to open its season next Wednesday (Dec. 4) before heading to the Chartiers-Houston Tournament on Dec. 6-7.
The Gators also will take part in the North Hills Duals on Dec. 14.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at [email protected].