Wrestling: Pair of Falcons commit to four-year colleges

Felix Osorio committed to Menlo College
Felix Osorio committed to Menlo College

A pair of Cerritos College state championship have made their four-year decisions, as Felix Osorio (Santa Fe HS) and Armando Murillo (Rowland HS) will be moving on to the next level. Osorio, who won the 3C2A state championship at 149 pounds, committed to Menlo College, while 165-pound state champion Murillo has committed to North Central (IL) College.

Osorio, a fifth place finisher at the state championships in his freshman season, earned his state championship by opening with a pin over Adrian Rangel of Chabot College in 2:20 and then earned a 14-2 major decision against Chase Mirelez of Modesto College in his second match. He fended off Aiden Hansen of Moorpark College, 9-4 in the semifinals to advance to the finals. Taking on James Juarez of Bakersfield College in the championship match, Osorio opened a 4-1 lead in the first period and systematically added to his point total with two more takedowns in the second period and went on to a convincing 14-5 victory.

Armando Murillo committed to North Central (IL) College A third place finisher at the state championships in his freshman year, Murillo won all three of his matches to capture the state title. After receiving a bye in his first match, he needed just 1:14 to pin Hector Alatorre of West Hills-Lemoore in his only action on the first day. Murillo then recorded a 6-1 victory over Jon Hernandez of Sacramento City College in his semifinal match to advance to the finals. In that match against Jesus Gutierrez of Victor Valley College, Murillo scored all the points he would need in the second period. After a scoreless first period, Murillo started the second period in the down position against Gutierrez. It took :36 seconds for him to score an escape point and then put himself in position to win the championship with a takedown with only :06 seconds left on the clock. Murillo surrendered his only point when Gutierrez escaped :15 seconds into the third period and then held him off to win the championship.

Murillo, who also won the Southern California championship and Fresno City Tournament and named the Southwest Conference Wrestler of the Year, finished the season with a 21-0 record after going 21-4 as a freshman. As for Osorio, also the champion of the West Hills Tournament, Santa Ana Tournament and Fresno City Tournament, he placed second at the SoCal Championships and finished the year with a combined 24-3 record, which included him going 20-3 at 149 pounds and 4-0 at 157 pounds.

This season, North Central placed fourth at the NCAA Division III National Championships after placing second at the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regionals. They also captured the title of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.

At Menlo, they placed fourth at the NAIA National Championships after winning the Cascade Collegiate Conference championship. He will be filling the position of former Falcons Nick Camacho and Richard Gurule at 149 pounds, who posted a 13-14 and 5-13 records, respectively, his senior year.