In their first tournament of the season, the Cerritos College wrestling team had five second place finishers at the Sacramento City Tournament, as they compiled 142.5 team points. The point total was good enough for second place behind Fresno City College who had 148.5 team points. Of the five wrestlers who came in second place, three of them lost to Fresno City wrestlers in the finals, while the other two were losses to Sierra College, who came in third place. The Falcons will now host the Cerritos Tournament at 9:00 a.m. in the Falcon Gym.

    Cerritos excelled in the lower weight classes, as freshman Ernie Garcia (Santa Fe HS) and sophomore Jason Carrillo (Torrance HS) placed second and third respectively at 125 pounds. Garcia won his first three matches before getting pinned by Angel Olea of Fresno City in 2:56, with Carrillo losing his first match after being the top seed. He rebounded to win five straight matches with ease (three falls), including a 19-2 win in the third place match.

    Freshman Paul Lyon (Shepherd (MI) HS/Central Michigan University) was the #2 seed at 133 pounds and won his first three matches all by fall to advance to the finals. In that match, he was defeated in a close match by Sierra College’s, Norman Richmond, 3-2. After allowing an early takedown in the first period, Lyon earned an escape point and picked up another escape point in the second period. There was no scoring in the third, with Richmond winning the match on riding time. Freshman Mike Koehnlein (Marina HS) won four matches at 141 pounds to reach the finals, but was defeated, 6-4 by Edgar Mercado of Fresno City. Koehnlein was leading, 4-3 after the second period, but surrendered a two-point reversal and couldn’t escape to tie the match.

    At 157 pounds, freshman Bronson Gerl (Calvary Chapel HS) won two closes matches, including an 8-7 overtime decision in the semi-finals before getting pinned in the finals. He was defeated by Travis Wood of Sierra College in 1:01. As for freshman heavyweights Chip Baker (Paramount HS) and Juan Enriquez (John Glenn HS), they picked up big points for the team after finishing in second and third place, respectively. Baker won four matches to reach the finals, which included a fall at 6:47 over Brandon Hamilton of Sacramento City in the semi-finals. In the championship match, Baker was defeated 2-1 by Luis Leyva of Fresno City, who scored a reversal late in the third period to win. Enriquez reached the semi-finals before getting defeated by Leyva, but won his next two matches to earn third place.

    Sophomore 197-pounder Al Kinslow (Santa Monica HS) won his first two matches by fall and then an 8-0 decision to reach the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual champion Mingo Grant of Sierra College. Kinslow went into the consolation round and won two more matches to take third place. His teammate, freshman Mike Kroppman (Clear Lake HS), advanced to the fifth place match. Freshman Adam Hase (Long Beach Millikan HS) was defeated in the second round at 184 pounds but came back to win three straight matches to compete for third place. In that match, he was defeated by Dan Righi of Fresno City, 5-3. To advance to the third place match, Hase pinned freshman teammate Mike Mehegan (West Torrance HS).