Wrestling: Late wins secure conference victory

File Photo: Hamzah Al-Saudi and the Falcons posted a conference win over Mt. SAC
File Photo: Hamzah Al-Saudi and the Falcons posted a conference win over Mt. SAC

In his 13 years as the Cerritos College wrestling head coach, Donny Garriott has won a lot of matches. But one place he has had difficulty winning in conference play has been at Mt. San Antonio College, where he had lost his last five matches. But on Wednesday, the #2-ranked Falcons (10-0, 2-0) posted a 25-16 Southwest Conference win over the Mounties. It was the first conference win for Garriott and the Falcons at Mt. SAC since 2010, who now has a lifetime 13-8 record against the Mounties . Next up for the team will be the Menlo Open, which will take place on November 2.

Cerritos opened up a 9-0 lead in the team score, thanks to an 11-4 win by the #1-ranked 125-pound wrestler in the state, freshman Jonathan Prata (Downey HS), while sophomore Andres Gonzales (Capistrano Valley HS) followed with a pin early in the second period at 133 pounds. He was leading 11-2 heading into the second period and almost came away with the pin late in the first period. After Mt. SAC recorded a pin at 141 pounds, the Falcons won the next two weights, which also included a forfeit win at 157 pounds.

At 149 pounds, freshman V'ante Moore (Lawndale HS) earned a 9-0 win over Jimmy Adams after taking an early 6-0 lead after the first period, which included a four-point near fall. On the night, Falcon wrestlers recorded three shutout wins. Mt. San Antonio got as close as 19-16 in the team score after earning three straight wins, but Cerritos closed out the night with two more shutout victories.

Freshman Hamzah Al-Saudi (Palisades HS) broke a scoreless first period tie by earning an escape point in the second period and was then able to ride Mellad Ayyoub for the final two minutes of the third period to collect the extra point for a 2-0 win. Freshman 285-pound Randy Arriaga (Capistrano Valley HS) was also locked up in a scoreless first period in his match, but earned a two-point reversal in the second period against Jackson Clark. He added a two-point takedown and received a bonus one point for riding time to come away with a 5-0 win.

125 Pounds - Jonathan Prata (CERR) def. Connor Diamond (MSAC), 11-4
133 Pounds - Andres Gonzales (CERR) pinned Nicholas Weissinger (MSAC), 3:24
141 Pounds - Oscar Chirino (MSAC) pinned Stefano McKinney (CERR), 3:36
149 Pounds - V'ante Moore (CERR) def. Jimmy Adams (MSAC), 9-0
157 Pounds - Larry Rodriguez (CERR) win by forfeit
165 Pounds - Wetzel Hill (MSAC) def. Drake De La Cruz (CERR), 17-3
174 Pounds - Ian Vasquez (MSAC) def. Cobe Hatcher (CERR), 3-2
184 Pounds - Kevin Hope (MSAC) def. Jarrod Nunez (CERR), 10-6
197 Pounds - Hamzah Al-Saudi (CERR) def. Mellad Ayyoub (MSAC), 2-0
285 Pounds - Randy Arriaga (CERR) def. Jackson Clark (MSAC), 5-0