This Week's Sports Schedule

    When the brackets were released for the Santa Ana Tournament this past week, the Cerritos College wrestling team saw that they were matched up with the top ranked opponents in most of the weight classes. The tough draw resulted in none of the 14 entries placing in the top four, as the Falcons came in 11th place, trailing such South Coast Conference teams as Santa Ana (2nd Place), Palomar (4th) and Mt. San Antonio (9th). Cerritos will now travel up north to compete in the West valley Tournament this weekend.

    "We didn't wrestle bad at all," said first-year head coach Don Garriott. "We got some really tough draws and ended up having losses against guys who are rated high up in the state rankings and guys who either won or placed second in this tournament. We just need to get over that hump and win some of those matches to gain more confidence."

    At 125 pounds, sophomore Matthew Holiday (Camp Verde, AZ HS) faced the state's top-rated Chauncey Phillips of Sierra College in the second round after posting a 13-8 win in the first round. Looking to score an upset pin, Holiday was pinned himself in 5:46 and then proceeded to win his nest two matches before getting pinned in the match to advance to the third place match. Freshman Jason Carrillo (Torrance HS) had the same situation at 133 pounds. He opened with a pin in 4:54 against Herbert Ortiz of Rio Hondo College and then had to face top-rated Mike Righi of Fresno City College, who came away with a 12-6 win over Carrillo on his way to the title. As for Carrillo, he was then defeated by Sacramento City College's Bryan Williams, 12-4.

    Sophomore Andrew Holmes (San Jacinto HS), who has had a slow start to the season, pinned his first two opponents at 141 pounds before losing to Edgar Mercado of Fresno City, 12-7, who is rated second in the state. Holmes went on to lose his next match, 9-7 to Jewel Jackson of Fresno City, who came in third place. A pair of Falcons didn't fare too well at 141 pounds, with freshman Tony Ruiz (Loara HS) advancing to the third round before losing to eventual champion Alfonso Sanchez of Fresno City, while freshman Dean Dutzy (West Torrance HS) lost both of his matches.

    Freshman Emiliano Rojas (Sunny Hills HS) was yet another wrestler who had to face a top-rated opponent at 157 pounds, after he recorded a 6-3 win in the first round and was then defeated, 5-3 in a close match against eventual champion Devin Velasquez of Santa Ana College. Rojas went on to win two more matches before a 7-2 loss to third-place finisher JD Thrall of Sacramento City College. Freshmen Jordan Serrano (North Torrance HS) and Brandon Dompe (Whittier HS) each lost their two matches at 157 pounds. Freshman 165-pound Jack Porter (Desert Vista, AZ HS) struggled out of the gate and lost his first match, 8-6 to Daniel Garay of Mt. San Antonio College and after winning his first consolation match, dropped an 11-10 decision.

    After opening with a 6-2 win against Ryan Calleja of Sacramento City College, 174-pound freshman Gene Choi (North Torrance HS) was pinned in 1:02 by eventual champion Michael Williams of Cuesta College. Choi did respond with a 17-0 technical fall win before a tough 9-5 loss to West Valley College's Marcus Garcia. Sophomore Louie Audelo (California HS) won his first two matches at 184 pounds, but was injured in a close 9-7 match in the semi-finals against Bakersfield College's Jason Carasco and had to withdraw from his consolation match.

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Email: John Van Gaston, Ext. 2896
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