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Cerritos College sophomore Jesse Gomez (Buena Park HS) became the first member of the wrestling team to sign with a four-year school when he signed a National Letter of Intent with NCAA Division II Emmanuel (GA) College. A two-time All-American for the Falcons, Gomez came within one match of an undefeated season, as he was defeated in the CCCAA State Championship match by one point, 3-2. It marked the second year in a row Gomez advanced to the finals, as his freshman season ended with a loss to teammate Robert Chism.

But now Gomez will embark on a different championship, and this time it will be with a brand new program. The Lions just completed their first year of existence, but in 2015 they won the Southeast Conference Tournament, and followed that by winning their first NWCA National Championship. Gomez will spend his first season as a red-shirt.

"I'm going from one great program to another," said Gomez, who will major in kinesiology. "I had the greatest time of my life here at Cerritos. I was part of a state championship (2014) and had great coaches and teammates that will be friends for life. My goal is to go and make history there."

Falcons head coach Donny Garriott believes that Gomez might be the best heavyweight wrestler he's had in his eight seasons.

"We don't have an upper weights coach on staff, so to have a guy like Jesse choose to come to Cerritos was a leap of faith on his part," said Garriott. "But his work ethic and approach to practice every day made him a better wrestler. Having (state champion heavyweight) Robert Chism to work out with every day his freshman season really helped both of them get better. That's probably why they faced each other in the state championship match in 2014. Jesse is always in a good mood and everybody always has a good time when he's around. He brought a lot of personality to the team."

Although Gomez didn't take a recruiting trip to the Georgia campus, he did say that he checked them out on Google Earth. That satisfied him enough to help make his decision.

"The school has everything that I was looking for," added Gomez. "It's a small campus (700-800 students) and they have a 15-1 student-to-teacher ratio. I'm going to miss Cerritos, but I'm excited for the new opportunities that are waiting for me at Emmanuel."