Wrestling: Cerritos wins two weight classifications at Santa Ana Tournament

Falcons finish third at Santa Ana Tournament
Falcons finish third at Santa Ana Tournament

Competing in the Santa Ana Tournament on Saturday, the Cerritos College wrestling team had a pair of individual champions, as well as a third place finisher, as the team compiled 150.5 team points, which put them in third place on the day. The team will open Southwest Conference action on Wednesday, October 11 when they host Santa Ana College at 7:00 p.m.

For the second consecutive week, sophomore 149-pound Mario De La Torre (Temescal Canyon HS) defeated all of his competition to come in first place. He pinned his first two opponents before an 8-1 victory over Dorian Parker of Palomar College sent him to the finals. In that match against Brandon Bollinger of Victor Valley College, Drury needed just 1:38 to post the victory.

The Falcons also received a championship performance from 285-pound Kobe Pablo (Cypress HS), who recorded five wins to capture his championship. After a first-period pin and second period technical fall opened the day, Pablo handed Taven Avila of West Hills-Lemoore College an 11-5 decision to reach the semifinals. Taking on Joseph Nava of Santa Ana College, Pablo posted a 9-6 win and followed that with a 9-7 victory in the championship match against Owen Firm of Victor Valley. It was a 5-3 Pablo lead through the first two periods before a near fall and a reversal with 13 seconds remaining in the match secured the win.

At 125 pounds, Carlos Garcia (Magnolia HS) placed third with teammate Cameron Calhoun (Canyon HS) finishing in fourth place. The two faced off against each other in the third place match with Garcia recording a convincing 12-0 victory. Calhoun reached the semifinals, but suffered a loss, while Garcia lost his first match, but came back to win his next four consecutive matches to earn third place.

Two other Falcons finished in fourth place on the day, with Kimo Servino (Carson HS) reaching the semifinals, and after defeating teammate Jake Topartzer (San Juan Hills HS) in his first consolation match, suffered a defeat in the third place match. Topartzer ended up in sixth place. At 157 pounds, Caoilte Drury (Westminster HS) was a semifinalist and after his loss, won his first consolation match. He was forced to default out of the third place match due to an injury.