For the past couple years, head coach Nestor Perez and his top assistant Dakota Sanchez have focused much of their efforts on convincing their rising Greeley Central squad to believe they belong among Class 4A’s upper echelon.
Now, the Wildcats themselves are doing all the convincing. And, the rest of the state is becoming firm believers.
On Saturday afternoon at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs, Greeley Central suffered its only loss of the season, falling 2-0 in the state title game against two-time state champion Mullen.
Though the Wildcats fell a win short of their ultimate goal, they certainly didn’t fall shy of making an impression on the opposition — including Matt Degitis, the veteran coach of a Mustangs team that has made seven title-game appearances over the decades.
Greeley Central fans cheer for their team after their loss to Mullen High School in the 4A boys soccer state championship at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)“Greeley Central is an unbelievable team,” said Degitis, who has coached Mullen for the past five years. “The players on the field (Saturday) were incredible. I give so much credit to (the Wildcats) and the things they were able to do.”
That finals match may have provided a somewhat bittersweet end to arguably the greatest season in the Wildcats boys soccer program’s history.
But as far as the program’s run as a bona fide state title contender goes, Greeley Central may only be getting started.
“Getting second, that’s something (this program) has never done before,” said Perez, a Valley High School alum in his second year as Greeley Central’s head coach. “I hope people know that Greeley is full of a lot of talent; not just the soccer players, but with the students and athletes from other sports. I just wish Greeley got more recognition other than being the ‘stinky town.'”
Greeley Central's Asiel Raya (8) battles for the ball with Mullen's Liam Sappuppo (10) during the 4A boys soccer state championship at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)In all, Perez has been with the Wildcats program for seven years, spending five seasons as an assistant before taking over as head coach a couple years ago.
A year ago, Greeley Central capped a breakthrough season, in which it went 13-3-1, by advancing to the second round of the 32-team state tournament.
The Wildcats didn’t just take the next, natural step this fall. They emphatically kicked down the door that previously served as a divider between them and 4A’s truly elite programs.
Greeley Central’s rise isn’t nearly as sudden as it may appear on the surface.
Greeley Central's Allyson Izaguirre Almendarez (7) breaks away with the ball during the 4A boys soccer state championship against Mullen at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)After years of struggling to string together wins, the Wildcats went from not even qualifying for the postseason — nor having a winning record — just two years ago to being undefeated until the final game of the season and coming one win short of becoming the first boys soccer state champion in Greeley history this fall.
Greeley Central played like a seasoned state tournament regular might in the postseason. After dominating No. 27 Skyview 8-2 in the first round on Oct. 30, the sixth-seeded Wildcats had a pair of one-goal wins in the second and third rounds.
They beat No. 11 D’Evelyn 3-2 in the second round Nov. 5 before stunning third-seed Battle Mountain in overtime 2-1 in the quarterfinals Nov. 8. Then, on Nov. 12, Greeley Central flexed its defensive muscles and showed exactly how poised and clutch it can be when it won a shootout after two scoreless halves and two scoreless overtime periods in a tense semifinals affair against second-seeded Silver Creek.
Greeley Central's Jesus Tapia (18) is comforted by coaching staff after Greeley's loss to Mullen High School in the 4A boys soccer state championship at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)Asiel Raya said he and the other nine seniors on the Wildcats roster couldn’t have asked for much more from their final season wearing Greeley Central black and orange.
“Ten, 20 years from now, I’m really going to miss this, for sure,” Raya said. “I’m going to miss being under these lights, seeing these same guys, going to practice every day with these same guys. There’s a lot that went into this season that I am definitely going to miss.”
Though the dramatic run to Saturday’s title game was an all-too-fitting swan song for the 10 seniors on the team, it may merely be the beginning of Greeley Central’s meteoric rise up the 4A ranks.
The Greeley Central boys soccer team poses for a photo after their loss to Mullen High School in the 4A boys soccer state championship at Switchbacks Weidner Field in Colorado Springs on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Staff Photographer)Repeating this season’s success will be no easy task moving forward for a Wildcats team losing much of their leadership and firepower to graduation.
But while every program experiences peaks and valleys as key players come and go, Perez’s squad would like nothing more than to do what perennial contenders do: reload rather than rebuild.
And while all this season, Greeley Central lived by the rallying cry of “Why not us?”,” next fall the Wildcats might pose a different rhetorical question: “Why not again?”
“Now the guys know that, despite the challenges that we’ve faced outside of soccer, we can still put out a hell of a team and a hell of a season,” Perez said. “We’re so close.”
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