Falcons celebrate after winning SoCal Team Dual title
Posted: Oct 15, 2022
Hosting the Southern California Regional Team Championships, the Cerritos College wrestling team won all three of their matches to win the team title. They will now face Northern California champion Fresno City College in November for the CCCAA State Championship. The Falcons opened with wins over Santa Ana College (36-20) and Rio Hondo College (46-6) before recording a 25-15 win over Mt. San Antonio College in the finals. It was a rematch of last year's finals, where the Mounties came out on top. The win by Mt. SAC snapped the Falcons four-year reign on the title.
Cerritos vs. Santa Ana: Taking on the Dons for the second time in three days, the Falcons turned a 5-0 early deficit into a 24-5 lead after a forfeit victory at 133 pounds and then three consecutive pins. At 141 pounds, sophomore Kai Ocampo (Lakewood HS) finished off Branden Huynh in 2:28, with sophomore Felix Osorio (Santa Fe HS) needing 2:43 to pin Nicholas Gutierrez at 149 pounds. The third pin came in 2:40, as 157-pound Mateo Jaramillo (Yorba Linda HS) pinned Zeke Hunter. Joining in on the pinfall action, sophomore 174-pound Stone Robledo (Villa Park HS) took care of Jonathan Aldana in just :44 of their match, while the final team points came in a forfeit at 197 pounds.
Cerritos vs. Rio Hondo: It was six pins that led to the team ousting the Roadrunners. Freshman 133-pound Raul Jimenez (St. John Bosco HS) got the scoring started with his pin at 1:30, while freshman Anthony Gardner (Carson HS) registered a 6-2 win over Howard Tieu at 141 pounds. Needing only :26 seconds to pin Juan Espinoza, freshman 149-pound Cael Garriott (South Torrance HS) continued the trend, with freshman 157-pound Trevor Thompson (Long Beach Millikan HS) holding off Derrick Meza by an 8-5 score at 157 pounds. The team rallied on sophomore Armando Murillo (Rowland HS) at 165 pounds, who finished off Anthony Yerena in 1:37, with Robledo getting the momentum revved up with his 174-pound pin in 1:49. A 13-1 major decision for freshman Jakob Edwards (Cypress HS) at 184 pounds set the stage for freshman Malachi Lyles (Mayfair HS) in his first match at 197 pounds. He was able to take out Ricardo Cardona with a pin in a bridge position in 30 seconds with freshman 285-pound Diego Flores (Redondo Union HS) finishing off the team scoring with his fireman's carry that led to a pin in 38 seconds.
Cerritos vs. Mt. San Antonio: With the match knotted at 6-6 through the four three weight classes, the Falcons opened up an insurmountable lead, which started with a hard fought 5-2 win by Murillo over Marcus Lobato. Robledo completed a 3-0 day with a 10-0 major decision at 174 pounds against Jessie Herrera. It was a low scoring match with Rafael Guerra at 184 pounds before a strong third period catapulted him to a 7-1 win over Jakob Hand. With Lyles prepared to compete at 197 pounds, the Mounties forfeited the weight, giving the Falcons a 22-6 advantage with three matches remaining. It was a last-second reversal for freshman 285-pound Kobe Pablo (Cypress HS) that not only earned him a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Jessie Garcia-Nino, it also clinched the team victory for Cerritos.Photos by Daryl Peterson
