Wrestling: Team scores enough points to win Bill Musick Open

Falcons finish ninth at the Mile High Open in Arizona
Falcons finish ninth at the Mile High Open in Arizona

On Saturday, the Cerritos College wrestling team won two weight classes and had three more finish in the top four, which enabled them to score enough points to win the Bill Musick Open at Fresno City College. The team will close out their Southwest Conference schedule on Wednesday when they travel to Santa Ana College for a 7:00 p.m. match.

The Falcons secured championships from Mario De La Torre (Temescal Canyon HS) at 149 pounds and Caoilte Drury (Westminster HS) at 157 pounds, while 197-pound Armando Sandoval (Los Alamitos HS) placed second, with 184-pound Ben Setum (Pacifica HS) locking down a third place result. It was also a fourth place finish for Carlos Garcia (Magnolia HS) at 125 pounds.

De La Torre won his fourth tournament title this season, as he pinned three of his four opponents to win the championship. He opened by pinning Aiden Brian of Arizona Christian University in 2:23 and followed that with a pin over Mt. San Antonio College Dylan Moreno is 3:33. That send him to the semifinals, where he dispatched Brian Geiger of Mt. SAC in 4:37 and capped off his day with a technical fall over Ashir Arias of San Joaquin Delta College, 18-2.

Also seeded #1 for the tournament, Drury won five matches, which included two pins, a technical fall and a pair of major decisions. He needed just 4:26 to record a 16-0 major decision against Gavin Ibarra of Mt. San Antonio in his first match, which was followed by a pin of Mirian Matkaziev of Simpson University in 2:32. An 11-2 major decision against Hector Ramirez of East Los Angeles College sent him to the semifinals, where he earned a 10-0 major decision against Joshua Padilla of East LA. In the championship match, Drury pinned Anthony Perez of Palomar College in 3:32.

At 197 pounds, Sandoval pinned teammate Jason Nelson (El Modena HS) in :29 seconds and then Wilson Ramirez of Mt. SAC in 2:42 to get his day started. That was followed by a 12-8 decision in the semifinals against Gilberto Solorio, while Sandoval fell to top-seed Marco Silva of Fresno City College, 8-3 in the championships.

Setum needed just :43 seconds to pin Riddoc Collins of Modesto College in his first match, but was defeated by eventual champion Julian Barajas in his next match. Now in the consolation bracket, Setum won four consecutive matches to earn a third place finish. All four wins came by pin.

In all, Cerritos had 11 wrestlers place at the tournament.