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| Picture of 184-pound Caleb Gerl in action. |
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After advancing
all the way to the state championship match as a
freshman, Cerritos College 184-pound wrestler
Caleb Gerl (Calvary Chapel HS)
made it his mission to take care of some unfinished
business. On Saturday at Chabot College, Gerl
accomplished that feat with a 3-2 win over Jesus
Chavez of Sierra College at the California Community
College Athletic Association State Championships.
Along with freshman 285-pound freshman
Jose Lopez (John Glenn HS),
who posted a 5-2 win over Austin Garza of Fresno
City College, the Falcons finished fifth as a team
with 92.5 team points. South Coast Conference rival
Santa Ana College won the state title with 158.5
team points.
"Tired," was the
response Gerl gave after being asked how he feels.
"I had it in my mind all year to get back to this
point and finish what I didn't last year. He
(Chavez) prepared really well against me and he was
able to shut down my game. I beat him 13-2 the last
time I faced him and he did a good job against me
tonight. But I give all the glory to God and am
thankful to have been able to finish what I started
last year."
In a tightly
contested match, Chavez took an early 2-0 lead with
a takedown with 57 seconds left in the first period.
But Gerl was able to escape before the end of the
period for a 2-1 deficit. He rode Chavez most of the
second period and took 1:25 of riding time into the
third period. Knowing he had to get up in less than
25 seconds to earn the riding time point, Gerl took
only four seconds to get out and although he was
unable to score any more points, received the point
to secure the victory.
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| Picture of 285-pound Jose Lopez in action. |
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"I could feel that
he was tired after the second period, so I felt I
had a good chance to get out for the escape point in
the third period," said Gerl. "I wanted to take him
all seven minutes and put as much pressure on as I
could at the end of each period. It seemed to work
because I was able to get out early in the third
period and win."
The Lopez's match,
he came in with a 1-1 record against Garza. But
being the early aggressor proved advantageous for
Lopez, as his trademark arm drag trip to the back
put Garza down with 10 seconds left in the first
period. He was also able to get a two-point
near-fall after getting him down and rode his 4-0
lead through the next two periods. Both received
escape points, while Lopez was charged for stalling,
which accounted for the 5-2 score.
Lopez had a
different kind of motivation in reaching the state
finals. After advancing to the high school state
championship match and coming up short last year, he
felt that he wanted to avenge that loss with a
community college state championship.
"I was getting
real tired if falling short in big matches and I was
on a mission to finish this season off with a win
and not a loss," said Lopez. "I knew I had to take
any opportunity he gave me and capitalize on it. Now
that I won, I'm really going to cherish this moment.
Mission accomplished."
"This was a very
trying season for me," said Falcon head coach
Donnie Garriott. "We had some personnel
issues early in the season and once we resolved
those, things started to pick up for me and the
team. It was a roller coaster season, but in the
end, I am proud of each and every one of my guys who
worked hard all season. For Caleb, he felt like he
should have won last season, so he put pressure on
himself to do so this year. He's the kind of guy who
can handle that pressure and used it to motivate
him. As for Jose, there wasn't as much pressure at
this level, but he took the feelings from last year
and it fueled his fire to do well this year. He will
be in the same situation as any freshman who wins a
state title. But he's a very focused guy and I know
he can handle it."
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