The Cerritos College wrestling team continues to fine tune their skills, as they prepare to open Southwest Conference action in less than two weeks. The Falcons, who traveled to the Modesto Tournament on Saturday, came in seventh place out of 15 teams and compiled 58.5 points, with only two wrestlers placing in the top four. The team will now compete in the Southern Regional Duals on Saturday at Palomar College.

Leading the way for the team was sophomore Tyree Cox (Lancaster HS), who advanced to the championship match at 174 pounds before getting defeated, 9-7 by Tyler Brown of Sacranebto City College. Cox, the #2-seed, opened with a bye before pinning Elvis Arce of Rio Hondo College in 4:00. A close 2-1 win over Kevin Corbett of Fresno City College advanced him to the semi-finals, where Cox pinned Nathan Zarate of West Hills College in 4:22.

At 197 pounds, freshman Tyler Smith (Marina HS) reached the semi-finals before getting pinned in :25 seconds by Kyhmba Jiohnson of Sierra College. That sent him to the consolation round, where a 3-1 win over Tommy Howard of Skyline College was followed by a 2-1 loss to Fresno City College's Paul Lujano for third place. Smith reached the semi-finals with wins over Howard, 6-2 and Ryan Mackey (Modesto College), 9-5.

Freshman 141-pound Michael Behnke (Arlington HS) also reached the semi-finals, but lost his last three matches and finished in sixth place. After pinning Doug Reynolds of Sierra College in 4:55, Behnke got past Michael Ruiz of West Hills College, 9-7 but was then defeated by Max Ramirez of Bakersfield College, 5-2. In the consolation bracket, Behnke lost to Travis Roberts of Sierra College, 12-5 and then 9-3 to Racelis Cardenas of Fresno City College.