Paced by a pair of individual champions, the Cerritos College wrestling team came in fourth place out of 17 schools at the West Hills Tournament on Saturday. The Falcons finished with 115 team points and was edged out of third place by Sacramento City College, who compiled 116 teams points. Fresno City College won the tournament with 154.5 points, with Mt. San Antonio College in second place with 146 points. The team will now compete in the Santa Ana Tournament next Saturday.

125 Pounds - The Falcons had five entries in the weight, with Ryan Sainz (Norwalk HS) posting a 3-2 record, while Jacob Valdes (Warren HS) picked up a pair of wins. Sainz was pinned in his first match, and then advanced with a default victory before a 10-3 win over Ivan Rodriguez (Bakersfield). After another default advancement, Christian Vasquez eliminated Sainz with a 7-2 decision. Valdes posted a 12-3 win over Kevin Valdez of East Los Angeles College and then recorded a technical fall over Gustavo Miramontes (West Hills), 20-3. Valdes was then defeated in his next two matches and was out of the tournament.

133 Pounds - Anthony Vargas (Citrus Hill HS) earned his way into the finals with four straight wins, but was shut out, 3-0 in the championships by George Taylor of Mt. San Antonio. He opened with a 12-4 win over AJ Rosas of Fresno City and then advanced by a default. A 5-1 win over Robert Smith of Santa Rosa in the quarterfinals and a 4-2 decision against Dean Parker of Mt. San Antonio in the semifinals, put Vargas in the championship match. Josh Garcia (La Serna HS) lost his first match after an opening round bye, but came back with two straight wins. He pinned Ian Morken of San Joaquin Delta in 4:24 and then won a wild 18-12 match against Kevin Walter of Santa Rosa. He saw his run come to an end with a 9-4 los to Smith of Santa Rosa.

141 Pounds - Jesus Baeza (Santa Fe HS) earned three straight wins to reach the semifinals, but lost to eventual champion Jonas Gayton of Fresno City when he was pinned in :46 seconds. He was then defeated in his next two matches, including the fifth place match after getting pinned in 1:14 by Antonio Jimenez of Sacramento City College. Jaime Nunez (Canyon HS) pinned his first two opponents until a 9-4 loss sent him into the consolation bracket. A 14-9 win over Johnny Robles of East LA was followed by an 8-4 loss to Tou Vang of Sacramento City. Had Nunez won, it would have set up a match against Baeza.

149 Pounds - One of the favorites to make a run for the championship, Voris Meeks (Yucca Valley HS), won his opening match by a 10-6 score over Bailey Gutierrez of Sacramento City. However, he was injured and forced to withdraw from the tournament. But Benjamin Gonzalez (Loara HS) was able to advance his way through the consolation bracket to take third place. He lost his first match and then won three of his matches with pins, including a victory over Isiah Alva of Fresno City in 1:30 in the third place match. Kody Davis (Chino Valley, AZ HS) won four matches in the consolation round, but was forced to drop out prior to facing Gonzalez. He earned an 8-0 major decision, as well as a pin in 2:22 after losing his opening match.

157 Pounds - The newest addition to the roster - Aaron Negrete (Calvary Chapel HS) - started his Falcon career with four wins and a tournament championship. He escaped his first match with a 4-2 decision over Isidro Aroyo of Fresno City and then pinned Noor Kathem of Modesto in 6:55 to reach the semifinals. A 5-2 win against Luis Quintero (Cuesta) was followed by a 9-6 win in the championship match against Joshua Annis of Fresno City. Dylan Moreno (Downey HS) lost his second match of the tournament and then strung together three consolation wins before suffering a pin in :31 seconds against Kathem in the third place match. Two of his wins were by pin and he earned a 20-12 win against Quintero to reach the third place match.

165 Pounds - Cerritos had just two entries in the weight, with Jacob Collins (Calvary Chapel HS) winning once in the consolation bracket. He earned a 13-4 major decision against Reed South (Mt. San Antonio), with Oliver Elizalde (Warren HS) dropping both of his matches.

174 Pounds - The Falcons almost had their third individual champion, as Joel Villa (Citrus Hill HS) won his way into the finals. He was defeated, 16-4 by Moe Nasser of Fresno City to end his championship run. Villa pinned both Dalton Froggatt (Shasta) in 1:11 and Trevor Wright of Sacramento City in 2:00 along the way. A trio of other entries each went 0-2 on the day.

184 Pounds - Ryker Coppa (Marina HS) pinned both Juan Soto (East LA) in 2:30 and Emilio Flores of Sierra in :18 seconds to reach the semifinals. But a 7-2 loss to Nathan Aragon of Mt. SAC sent him to the consolation bracket, where he was defeated, 6-3 by Stephen Martin of Skyline to compete for third place. Coppa received a default win for fifth place. John Robles (Santa Fe HS) won his opening match, but was then defeated in his next two and was eliminated.

197 Pounds - The only Falcon entry was Sergio Arellano (Centennial HS), who opened with a 4-3 win over Patrick Penick of Shasta, but was then forced to forfeit his next match due to an injury. He did recover to defeat both Coleman Maher (Skyline), 5-3 and Maurise Stephens (West Hills), 11-1, before a 10-3 loss to Will Thornton of Cuesta ended his day.

285 Pounds - The duo of Jesse Gomez (Buena Park HS) and David Eubanks (Temescal Canyon HS) each won their first four matches to set up a meeting in the championships. But the two agreed not to face off against each other and Gomez was awarded the championship. He pinned two of his opponents along the way, while Eubanks had close matches against both Austin Reynolds of Sacramento City (3-2) and Murrell Anderson of Chabot (5-4). Also competing was Barry Gee (Fountain Valley HS), who opened with a pin and then dropped an 11-1 score. In the consolation round, Gee pinned teammate Neil Owens (Calvary Chapel HS) in 6:55 after Owens won the first match of his career. Gee also pinned Anthony Florido of East LA before he was defeated, 7-4 by Kyle Lincoln of West Hills.