After defeating three teams in the Southern
California team dual championships on Saturday
to reach the finals, the Cerritos College
wrestling team lost a close 22-13 decision to
South Coast Conference rival Palomar College.
The Falcons opened with a 42-0 win over Moorpark
College, then followed that with a 38-6 decision
over Cuesta College. In the semi-finals,
Cerritos (4-1) defeated conference opponent
Santa Ana College, 30-10 to advance to the
championships. It was the second win over the
Dons in four days.
There
were a couple of close losses against the Comets
that turned the match around. At 125 pounds,
sophomore
Jason Carrillo (Torrance HS)
fought back from a 6-3 deficit after the first
period, but ran out of time in a 10-9 loss to
Mark Ibarra. Sophomore
Gene
Choi (North Torrance HS) was in a
tight 2-0 match at 165 pounds against Lewis
Gonzalez, but was caught trying to make a move
and was pinned in the second period for a
six-point team score swing. Those, along with a
tight 2-1 loss at 285 pounds by freshman
Juan Enriquez (John Glenn HS),
wound up being the turning points in the match.
On a bright side, sophomore
David
Razo (La Quinta HS) defeated
top-rated Louie Desantis at 157 pounds, 8-3.
In the
win over Moorpark, the Falcons posted two pins
and received two wins by forfeit. Razo won his
157-pound match in 5:32, while freshman
Adam
Hase (Long Beach Millikan HS)
needed 5:12 to pin his opponent at 174 pounds.
Sophomore
Al
Kinslow (Santa Monica HS) exacted
some revenge on Tod Molesworth at 197 pounds,
who had defeated him earlier in the year.
Kinslow registered a 4-2 win, while freshman
Ernie Garcia (Santa Fe HS) and
sophomore
Tony
Ruiz (Loara HS) won by major
decisions at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively.
Cerritos
was also shutting out Cuesta through the first
eight matches, with Razo and Kinslow each
picking up wins by pinfall, while freshman
Paul
Lyon (Shepherd (MI) HS)/Central
Michigan University) posted a 5-0 shutout at
133 pounds. Against Santa Ana, the Falcons got
off to a great start, as Carrillo (4-0), Lyon
(11-3) and freshman
Mike Koehnlein (Marina HS), who
posted a 10-0 decision at 141 pounds, all opened
with wins. At 157 pounds, Razo broke open a
close 4-1 match after two periods with an
offensive barrage in the third and won, 13-4,
while Hase needed just 17 seconds to pin Justin
Gomez at 174 pounds. Cerritos closed out the win
after freshman
Mike Mehegan (West Torrance HS)
won, 3-2 at 184 pounds and when Kinslow pinned
Joseph Garcia in 1:17.
