The Cerritos College wrestling team finished in third place at the Southern Regional Duals on Saturday at Palomar College, with three of the four results coming down to the final match. The Falcons opened with a convincing 38-14 win over Rio Hondo College and then suffered a 19-15 loss at the hands of Santa Ana College. In their final two matches, Cerritos tied in the team scoring, but won based in the first criteria, which is the most match points. After a 24-24 tie against West Hils College, the Falcons advanced by recording 29 match against compared to 20 for the Golden Eagles, and then earned a win over Palomar College with a 60-58 match point edge after tying 19-19 in team scoring. This week, the team will resume Southwest Conference action when they travel to East Los Angeles College for a 7:00 p.m. match.

Cerritos vs. Rio Hondo: The Falcons collected the majority of their points with three pins and a technical fall, while they also earned 12 points on a pair of forfeits. Picking up wins by pin were sophomore Michael Behnke (Arlington HS) at 149 pounds, sophomore Brian Simmons (Hemet HS) at 157 pounds and 184-pound freshman Jeremiah Gerl (Calvary Chapel HS). Sophomore 125-pound Gabe Ballesteros (Mesa, AZ HS) eatned a technical fall win with his 15-0 decision, with sophomore Timothy Garnica (North Torrance HS) earning a 6-1 victory at 165 pounds.

Cerritos vs. Santa Ana: Taking on the rival Dons, the Falcons dropped four of the 10 matches against wrestlers ranked in the top four of their respective weight classes. At 133 pounds, freshman Dustin Kirk (Elsinore HS), who's ranked #2 at 125 pounds, took on top-ranked Juan Jaime and after a close first period, was unable to keep up. The end result was a 15-7 setback for Kirk, while Ballesteros picked up an 8-6 win at 125 pounds in the final match, although he needed a pin in order for Cerritos to win the overall match. Sophomore Greg Barrera (Northwest, TX HS) earned a 7-3 win at 141 pounds, and Behnke picked up a pin at 149 pounds, with Gerl (5-0) winning at  184 pounds. Cerritos suffered losses at 165 pounds and 197 pounds against wrestlers ranked second at those weights.

Cerritos vs. West Hills: After opening up an 18-0 lead on pins by freshman David Acuna (San Pedro HS) at 141 pounds, freshman Eric Ambriz (Temescal Canyon HS) at 149 pounds and Simmons at 157 pounds, and even led, 24-6, the Falcons were defeated in the final three matches for the team score to be tied. When accumulating the match points, falls didn't come into play, so the 10-1 win by freshman Maxwell Kumashiro (Los Alamitos HS) at 174 pounds turned out to be the turning point in the match. Gerl also recorded an 8-5 win at 184 pounds. The win advanced the team into the third place match against the host Comets.

Cerritos vs. Palomar: Unlike their match against West Hills, Cerritos trailed 10-0 after the first three weights were completed and also trailed 13-3. Their comeback started with a 10-5 win by Milian at 197 pounds, while a win by forfeit at 125 pounds also helped the team. In the final match, 141-pound Barrera knew he needed either a pin or a win by more than 10 points to at least earn a tie. He defeated Travys Carus, 19-8 to earn a 19-19 team tie and also give the team the victory, as the outscored Palomar 60-58 in match points.