Complete Brackets

Team Scores

A pair of individuals won titles at the CCCAA Wrestling State Championships at Victor Valley College on Saturday. Those two wins enabled the Falcons to come in second place, as they finished five points behind Fresno City College, who entered the finals five points ahead. Sophomore Kevin James (Redondo Union HS) and freshman David Van Weems (Corona Centennial HS) each won individual state championships, giving Cerritos 58 in school history.

"I'm really proud of this team," said head coach Donny Garriott. "We had almost a perfect season and lost one dual meet all year by just one point against one of the best teams in the country. A couple of bad breaks late in the season accounted for us coming in second place. When we lost (133-pound) Anthony (Vargas), I thought it would be really tough to win the state championship. But I could go through the bracket sheets and find five points really easy that we could have come up with. But this was an outstanding season with a great group of guys."

At 157 pounds, James squared off against Fresno City's Joshua Annis in the state championship match. Ranked #3 in the state, James pulled out a close 6-4 win when he opened with a first period takedown and added an escape point in the second period for a 3-1 lead. Annis made it a 3-2 match in the third period before James recorded a takedown with :58 seconds remaining. He then held on for the two-point win after adding a riding time point.

"Having to sit out last season because of my shoulder injury was tough," said James. "But I listed to all of my coaches and the hard work and training paid off. I started feeling like myself at the state team duals and stopped thinking about my shoulder and just went out and wrestled. I told myself it was time to be tough and I put all my trust in the process."

As for Van Weems (pictured left, with James), he finished the season undefeated and capped the season with a 4-3 win over Kalvin Stuckey of Fresno City at 197 pounds. In the state team duals, Van Weems handed Stuckey a 26-11 beating, but faced a different opponent in the finals. Van Weems opened the scoring with a first period takedown, but saw his 3-1 lead turn into a tie match when Stuckey picked up a reversal with 1:08 remaining. Van Weems escaped 10 seconds later and was able to elude Stuckey and earned the win.

"David wrestled at  220 pounds in high school and he had a hard time getting down to 197 for us last year, so he was a grey shirt for us," added Garriott. "I think cutting the weight slowly helped him with his strength and stamina."

Van Weems agreed, stating, "in my first year at Cerritos, I saw that the 'Freshman 15" is a real thing. I was up around 235 and once I learned to change my eating habits and started drinking more water, the weight came off and the strength and stamina increased. Even before the season started, I was ready to go. Stuckey studied me after the last time we faced each other and he was ready for me. There were a couple of times when I just had to remain patient and I took my shots when they were there. I just kept working hard and I'm ready to come back next season and do it again."

"I really excited about next year's team," continued Garriott. "We have eight returning place winners, and then you add in (2015 state champion) Aaron Negrete and I think we have a great team coming back."

Below is a breakdown of the Falcon wrestlers at the state championships:

125 Pounds - Norberto Buenrostro - 3rd Place (All-American)
141 Pounds - Richard Pocock - 4th Place (All-American)
149 Pounds - Wyatt Gerl - 5th Place
157 Pounds - Kevin James (STATE CHAMPION)
157 Pounds - Dylan Moreno - 5th Place
165 Pounds - Blake Vasquez - 4th Place (All-American)
165 Pounds - Kennith Kirk - 5th Place
174 Pounds - Isaiah Leyva - 6th Place
184 Pounds - Bryant Vasquez - 6th Place
197 Pounds - David Van Weems (STATE CHAMPION)
285 Pounds - David Zavala - 4th Place (All-American)

Photos courtesy of John Sachs