Class of 2020

Mike Varmette watched the Olympic wrestling on TV in 1972 and knew he wanted to be a wrestler. That wish came true in the 1975 season when he cracked Bob Cartys Glens Falls Indians starting lineup at 155 pounds as a freshman.

By Mikes sophomore year he was 19-3-3 for the Indians and finished third in the Class B tournament. Wrestling year round at camps and clinics with teammate Bob Solomon and Dan George would pay off along with extensive workouts before and after practice.

In 1977 Varmette would have one of the finest seasons to date for Glens Falls and Section 2. Mike wrestled to a 36-1 record. His one loss was to John Battone from Hornell at the Canandaigua Tournament. Mike avenged that loss in the State Championship opening round when he defeated Battone 16-6. Varmette was only taken down by one wrestler during the entire season, including the State Championship at 167 pounds. Mike became just the 6th State Champion for Section 2 when he defeated Tourney favorite Steve Banach in the semi-finals and then Tim Prince of Maple Grove in the finals by a score of 5-3. Varmette would also be the first underclassman to be awarded the David DeMeo award for the most outstanding wrestler in Section 2.

Mike would prepare for 1978 the same way but early season injuries and late season illness would limit him to a 26-4 record. Mike won his second Section 2 Championship but was upset in a stacked weight class at the State Tourney. Varmette would be 5th in the voting for the DeMeo award his senior year. He finished his career with an 86-24-5 record.

Recruited by several colleges Mike would go to Michigan State to wrestle for a year and then transferred to Albany State where he wrestled for Joe DeMeo. Mike won a considerable amount of titles along the way.

Most recently Mike was the wrestling coach for the Hadley-Luzerne/ Lake George War Eagles until retiring after the 2019 season. He is also a member of the Glens Falls Athletic Hall of Fame.