Don Garriott starts his third season as the Cerritos College head wrestling coach and in his two seasons he has led the team to the South Coast Conference championship and Southern California Championship. In his first year, the team finished fourth at the state championships and improved to second place last year. Under his guidance, the Falcons have added one more individual state champion to their total. Familiar with the Falcon’s winning tradition, Garriott faced it firsthand while he was a wrestler at El Camino College from 1986-88. In his two seasons with the Warriors, Garriott was a two-time All-American while wrestling at 126 pounds and also earned 1^st Team All-South Coast Conference both seasons. He moved on to California State University, Chico, where he was a two-time Division II All-American at 134 pounds and won the conference championship both seasons.

    His wrestling career continued at the national level, where he was a 1996 Olympic Trials Western Regional Runner-up at 125.5 pounds and was a United States Freestyle place winner. While at West Torrance High School, Garriott was a CIF Champion and placed fourth in the State Meet as a senior.

    In addition to his coaching duties with the Falcons, Garriott will continue to serve as the head wrestling coach at North Torrance High School, where he has been since 1991. In his time at North Torrance, Garriott has coached four CIF champions, five CIF runner-ups and 12 league champions. From 1995-98, he served as an assistant coach at Golden West College, where they won the 1996 South Coast Conference championships.

    Garriott earned his Bachelor’s degree in English Literature at Cal State Dominguez Hills and earned his Master’s degree in Special Education from National University. Garriott and his wife of 17 years, Deanne, have a four-year-old son, Cael and newborn Caden