For the second time this season, the Cerritos College wrestling team came in first place at a tournament. The Falcons, who had four individual champions, finished with 148.5 team points and held off second place Mt. San Antonio (126 team points) and third place Fresno City (121.5). The team will get a week off before they host Rio Hondo College at 7:00 p.m. in a Southwest Conference match.

Sophomore Dustin Kirk (Elsinore HS) was the top seed at 133 pounds and after opening with a bye, he disposed of Carlos Martinez of Rio Hondo, 17-3. In his toughest match of the day, Kirk escaped with a 5-4 win over Palomar's Miguel Flores, which set up a semifinal match against George Sakkas of Cuesta. That was a 21-6 technical fall win for Kirk, who closed out the day with a 6-1 win over #2-seeded Vicenta Hernandez of Fresno City for the championship.

One of the most dominant wrestlers for the Falcons in recent history, freshman Antonio McKee (Long Beach Poly HS), breezed through his four matches at 149 pounds to win the title. His father, Antonio McKee, Sr., a two-time, undefeated state champion for Cerritos, was on hand to watch his son pin Andrew Madrigan of Rio Hondo in 2:41 in his first match. That was followed by a 10-3 win over Johnny Callas of Cuesta and a 9-1 victory over Lorenzo Medina of Mt. San Antonio to advance to the finals. McKee polished off Joaquin Collister of Santa Ana, 6-0 to capture the title.

At 157 pounds, sophomore Keanu Tom (Los Alamitos HS) posted a pair of technical falls in his first two matches before pulling out a close decision in the semifinals. Wins over Joseph Aguila (19-4) of East Los Angeles and Erick Palayo-Moreno (19-4) of Sacramento City was followed with a tight 3-1 win over Adrian Gomez of Fresno City to advance to the finals. Tom captured the title with an 11-5 win over Joseph Magdaleno-Hudson of East Los Angeles in the finals.

The team's other champion, sophomore 285-pound Robert Chism (Downey HS) pinned a pair of opponents on his way to a second tournament title. He opened with an 8-1 win over Cesar Garcia of Sacramento City and then pinned both Blad Cannobio of Mt. San Antonio (2:45) and then Jacob Hall of Bakersifield in 5:48 to reach the finals. The title was won with a 7-5 victory over Javier Gonzalez of Rio Hondo, who was coming off a pin of second-seeded Maury Lemons. Also at 285 pounds, freshman Jesse Gomez (Buena Park HS) took third place after coming back in the consolation bracket. A loss in his second match (3-2 against Gonzalez) was followed by four straight wins, including a tight 5-3 triumph over Andrew Cruz of Mt. San Antonio in the finals.

Sophomore Max Kumashiro (Los Alamitos HS) posted three convincing wins to reach the finals, but was defeated, 11-5 by Palomar's Alexander Graves for the championship. Wins by Kumashiro included a 13-3 decision over Angel Alcantar of Mt. San Antonio and a 17-3 win over Rudy Conant of Rio Hondo. He reached the finals after defeating Jack Robinett of Cuesta, 7-3. The Falcons had two wrestlers reach the third place match, with freshman Oscar Martinez (Corona Centennial HS) handing freshman Elijah Wilson (Long Beach Poly HS) a 9-3 decision. Both wrestlers reached the semifinals before suffering a loss.

125 Pounds - Gary Howe - 4th Place
133 Pounds - Dustin Kirk - 1st Place
149 Pounds - AJ McKee - 1st Place
157 Pounds - Keanu Tom - 1st Place
184 Pounds - Max Kumashiro - 2nd Place
197 Pounds - Oscar Martinez - 3rd Place
197 Pounds - Elijah Wilson - 4th Place
285 Pounds - Robert Chism - 1st Place
285 Pounds - Jesse Gomez - 3rd Place