A pair of
former Cerritos College wrestlers faired
very well last week at the University Greco
National Championships, which were held in
Akron, OH. In the 145.5 pound weight
division, Marco Lara, who
is now a senior at Northern Michigan
University, won the national championship,
while Brandon Doran, who
placed second in the California Community
College State Championships last year,
posted a third place finish in the 264.5
weight division. As a result, the two will
now advance and compete in the U.S. World
Team Trials, which will be held in Las
Vegas, NV on June 9-10. They will both be
competing for a chance to make the U.S.
World Team.
Wrestling for the United
States Olympic Education Center (USOEC),
Lara, who recently came in sixth place at
the Las Vegas/ASICS U.S. National
Championships, defeated three opponents and
only allowed one point in winning the
national championship. After receiving a
first round bye, he posted a technical fall
(7-0, 7-0) win over Chris Davis before a
5-0, 7-1 victory against Nick Blackshaw. In
the finals, Lara defeated former collegiate
teammate Ben Sanchez, 7-0. 4-0.
In his career, Lara
helped the Falcons win a team state
championship as a sophomore in 2002 and won
an individual state title at 149 pounds that
same year. He has since finished in fifth
place at the 2006 Sunkist International Open
(Tempe, AZ.), captured a bronze medal at the
2006 Greco-Roman University National
Wrestling Championships (Evanston, IL.),
placed fourth at the FILA-Junior Greco-Roman
National Wrestling Championships (Las Vegas,
NV), as well as finishing third at NYAC
Championships (New York City), third at
Sunkist International Tournament (Tempe,
AZ.) and second at University National
Championships (Colorado Springs, CO).
As for Doran, who is
undecided on which four-year university he
will transfer to, he represented the Future
Stars Wrestling Club in the tournament,
After he dropped his first match, he fell
into the consolation round. Not discouraged,
he went on to win four straight matches to
take third place. He lost a 3-0, 6-2
decision to eventual champion Kenneth
Lester, but after earning a bye, went on to
pin Joseph Smith (28 seconds). His next
match resulted in a huge win, as he fought
back against Kurt Klimek and pinned him in
the second period. After losing the first
period, 7-0, Doran stunned Klimek by getting
him on his back and pinned him in 43 seconds
to advance to the semi-finals. In that match
he registered a 2-1, 5-0 win over Wade Sauer
to advance to the third place match, where
me handled Alonzo Henry, and pinned him in
29 seconds of the second period after
winning the first period, 6-0.
This past season with the
Falcons, Doran posted a 32-7 record and
earned All-American status after finishing
in second place at the state championships.
Earlier in the month, Doran competed in his
first national tournament and placed seventh
in the Senior Greco division of the Las
Vegas/ASICS U.S. National Championships.
