The Cerritos College wrestling team rode the momentum of three wins by pinfall to help them secure a 26-16 South Coast Conference win at home on Wednesday night against Santa Ana College. The win by the Falcons, ranked #4 in the state, was their first dual match of the season and makes them 1-0 overall and in the SCC, while the 6^th-ranked Dons dropped to 2-3 on the year and 0-1 in the conference. This Saturday, both schools will compete in the Southern Regional Duals, which will take place at Moorpark College.

    Recording the pins for the Falcons were freshman 174-pound Adam Hase (Long Beach Millikan HS), who defeated Justin Gomez in a quick 37 seconds, while sophomore Al Kinslow (Santa Monica HS) needed 4:31 to pin Joseph Garcia in the 197-pound match. As for top-rated Paul Lyon (Shepherd, MI HS), he won his 133-pound match over Cesar Renteria in 2:28, which all but sealed the victory for Cerritos.

    The match started at 157 pounds, and sophomore David Razo (La Quinta HS) worked his way to a 6-0 lead over Sean Barbour before finishing with a 9-1 victory. After Hase’s pin, the Falcons were leading 10-3, until a come from behind win by Santa Ana’s Steve Sohanaki at 184 pounds got Santa Ana to within 10-6. Freshman Carsell Swain (Long Beach Poly HS) held a 4-1 lead after his takedown with 1:42 left in the second period, but Sohanaki scored a reversal before the end of the second period and then went up 5-4 with a takedown with 1:01 left to record the win.

    Kinslow regained the team a 10-point win with his pin, but the Dons won the next two matched to get to within 16-12. It was a controversial finish to the 125-pound match that could have put the match out of reach a little earlier, but Falcon sophomore Jason Carrillo (Torrance HS) was ruled not to have escaped the grasp of Anthony Frank in the final seconds, which would have tied the match at 2-2. But Lyon put the lead back to 22-12 with his pin before freshman Mike Koehnlein (Marina HS) fought off a comeback from Mike Lopez at 141 pounds to give the Falcons the win. After Lopez picked up an escape point with two seconds left in the second period to cut Koehnlein’s lead to 6-5, that would be as close as the match would get, with Koehnlein accounting for a reversal, three-point near fall and a takedown in the third period to win easily. Top-ranked Jose Serratos closed out the match for the Dons with a 12-3 win over sophomore Tony Ruiz (Loara HS) at 149 pounds.

 Weight-by-weight results (match started at 157 pounds)

157 Pounds - David Razo (La Quinta HS) – Cerritos def. Sean Barbour (Dana Hills HS) – Santa Ana, 9-1

165 Pounds – Dylan Sweet (Los Osos HS) – Santa Ana – def. Gene Choi (N. Torrance HS) – Cerritos, 14-11

174 Pounds – Adam Hase (LB Millikan HS) – Cerritos pinned Justin Gomez (Tustin HS) – Santa Ana, :37

184 Pounds – Steve Sohanaki (Aliso Niguel HS) – Santa Ana def. Carsell Swain (LB Poly HS) – Cerritos, 5-4

197 Pounds – Al Kinslow (Santa Monica HS) – Cerritos pinned Joseph Garcia (La Serna HS) – Santa Ana, 4:31

285 Pounds – Tyler Porras (Westmont Campbell HS) def. Juan Enriquez (John Glenn HS) – Cerritos, 2-0

125 Pounds – Anthony Frank (Laguna Hills HS) – Santa Ana def. Jason Carrillo (Torrance HS) – Cerritos, 2-1

133 Pounds – Paul Lyon (Shepherd, MI HS) – Cerritos pinned Cesar Renteria (Edison HS) – Santa Ana, 2:28

141 Pounds – Mike Koehnlein (Marina HS) – Cerritos def. Mike Lopez (Bell HS) – Santa Ana, 14-6

149 Pounds – Jose Serratos (Santa Ana HS) – Santa Ana def. Tony Ruiz (Loara HS) – Cerritos, 12-3