With the Southwest Conference title on the line, the Cerritos College wrestling team suffered a 22-12 loss at the hands of host Mt. San Antonio College on Wednesday night. The Falcons, (11-2, 3-1), ranked #2 in the state, defeated the #3-ranked Mounties, 20-15 (10-3, 4-0) in the finals of the Southern California Team Duals, with Mt. SAC recording the other win over Cerritos, 22-17 at the Mt. San Antonio Duals.
Trailing the entire match, Cerritos had one last chance to pull out the win at 285 pounds, but freshman Jose Ramirez-Araujo (Troy HS) was pinned by Gabe Herrera. The team got as close as 16-12 after freshman 197-pound Ethan Bakker (Los Alamitos HS) posted a 6-4 win over Luis Melecio. The team missed out on coming away with an upset win at 174 pounds, where freshman Zack Gonzalez (Lakewood HS) was defeated, 8-6 in overtime against Matthew Mejia, who is ranked #4 in the state at 165 pounds.
After trailing, 4-0 after 125 pounds, #4-ranked freshman 133-pound Joshua Brown (Esperanza HS) finished off Julian Melecio, 8-4, which was followed by freshman Nick Camacho (Paramount HS) getting beat, 6-1 at 141 pounds. Camacho, who's ranked #2 at the weight, was defeated by Joseph Dominguez, who is ranked #2 in the state at 149 pounds. Sophomore Wyatt Gerl (Calvary Chapel HS), ranked #2 at 157 pounds, earned a 7-1 win, while #3-ranked Blake Vasquez (Fountain Valley HS) picked up a 4-0 win at 165 pounds for the Falcons.
Cerritos competed without the services of #1-ranked Aaron Negrete (Calvary Chapel HS) at 157 pounds and #1-ranked 197-pound David Van Weems (Corona Centennial HS), who were both out due to illness and injury.
125 Pounds - #8 John Whisner (MSAC) def. #4 Messiah Owens (CERR), 16-6 (MSAC leads, 4-0)
133 Pounds - #4 Joshua Brown (CERR) def. Julian Melecio (MSAC), 8-4 (MSAC leads, 4-3)
141 Pounds - #2 (149 pounds) Joseph Dominguez (MSAC) def. #2 Nick Camacho (CERR), 6-1 (MSAC leads, 7-3)
149 Pounds - Manuel Salcido (MSAC) def. #7 (141 pounds) Devin Daugherty (CERR), 10-8 (MSAC leads, 10-3)
157 Pounds - #2 Wyatt Gerl (CERR) def. #8 Joseph Valdez (MSAC), 7-1 (MSAC leads, 10-6)
165 Pounds - #3 Blake Vasquez (CERR) def. #6 Apollo Santos (MSAC), 4-0 (MSAC leads, 10-9)
174 Pounds - #4 (165 pounds) Matthew Mejia (MSAC) def. Zack Gonzalez (CERR), 8-6 (ot) (MSAC leads, 13-9)
184 Pounds - #1 (174 pounds) Hector Vargas (MSAC) def. Ryan Gutierrez (CERR), 9-5 (MSAC leads, 16-9)
197 Pounds - #2 Ethan Bakker (CERR) def. #6 (184 pounds) Luis Melecio (MSAC), 6-4 (MSAC leads, 16-12)
285 Pounds - Gabe Herrera (MSAC) pinned Jose Ramirez-Araujo (CERR) (MSAC win, 22-12)