Paced by individual champions Mario De La Torre (Temescal Canyon HS) and Kobe Pablo (Cypress HS), as well as three others that reached the finals, the Cerritos College wrestling team finished in second place at the Southern California Regional Championships Saturday at Palomar College. The Falcons, who finished with 170 team points, will be sending 11 wrestlers to the 3C2A State Championships next weekend at Cuesta College.

De La Torre, an All-American last season after advancing to the championship match at 141 pounds, won all four of his matches to capture the title. As the top seed, De La Torre opened with a 17-0 technical fall win over Luciano Esoldo of Victor Valley College and then needed just 55 seconds to pin Rio Hondo College's Brian Dryer to advance to the semifinals. He then continued his dominance with a 16-0 technical fall over Hector Ramirez of East Los Angeles College to advance to the championship match. Taking on Brandon Bollinger of Victor Valley, De La Torre recorded three-point takedowns in the first and second periods to open a 6-1 lead and then extended a 7-4 lead in the third period by earning an escape point, while Bollinger gave up a point for stalling.

Another returning All-American after coming in third place at the state tournament at 285 pounds last season, Pablo earned a pair of 16-1 technical fall wins in his first two matches before pinning Mustafa Farthe of Palomar College in 2:39 to advance to the championships. Pablo earned those technical falls against Jonathan Vega (East Los Angeles College) and Dylan Avila (Santa Ana College). In the finals against Dib Sawaya of Mt. San Antonio, Pablo broke a scoreless tie with an escape point and three-point takedown with 20 seconds left in the second period. Sawaya escaped with three seconds left, with Pablo securing the win with a takedown with just two seconds remaining in the match after Sawaya closed to score to 4-2.

 

At 157 pounds, sophomore Caoilte Drury (Westminster HS) opened with a bye before a pair of wins by pin advanced him to the championship match. Squaring off against Alex Ramirez of Mt. San Antonio College, Drury was pinned in 57 seconds and finished in second place. He recorded pins over both Devonya Kee of West Hills College in 54 seconds and Zeke Hueter of Santa Ana College in 4:37.

 

Also reaching the finals, 184-pound freshman Ben Setum (Pacifica HS), who opened with a bye and then registered a 10-6 win over Rabih Badrani of Palomar College. That was followed by a semifinal pin of Bakersfield College's Issac Villalobos in 55 seconds. His bid for the championship came to an end in the finals with a 19-4 technical fall loss to Rafael Roman-Amador of Bakersfield. 

 

The third Falcon to advance to the finals was sophomore 197-pound Armando Sandoval (Los Alamitos HS), who needed two wins to compete in the championship match. After an opening round by, Sandoval pinned Miles Kline of Moorpark College in 2:37 before an 11-6 win over Isaac Lopez of Mt. San Antonio sent him to the finals. Taking on Cuesta College's Christian Davidson, Sandoval was pinned in 2:33 after opening a 5-0 lead in the first period. 

 

Coming in third place in their respective weight classes were sophomore 149-pound Jasper Centeno (St. John Bosco HS) and 165-pound sophomore Cael Garriott (South Torrance HS), while freshman 125-pound Carlos Garcia (Magnolia HS) and freshman 141-pound Jake Topartzer (San Juan Hills HS) placed sixth. Those who also advanced to the state tournament were eighth place finishers - sophomore 141-pound Kimo Servino (Carson HS) and freshman 174-pound Zack Harkey (Dana Hills HS).