|
Now in his sixth season as
the Cerritos College wrestling head coach,
Don Garriott has continued to keep the
program near the top of the state in team
results and individual state champions. In
2010, he guided the Falcons to his third
conference championship in five seasons,
while they won their second Southern
California championship and finished second
at the State Championships. The second place
finish at the state championships was the
second under his tenure, while they also
have two four place and one fifth place
finish.
In addition to their strong second place
finish at the state championships, Garriott
also had two individual state champions, as
Stevan Cabanas won the 125-pound
championship, while sophomore 285-pound Jose
Lopez won his second straight title. With
the two state champions from 2010, the
Falcons now have 51 state champions in their
history, with six of them coming under the
guidance of Garriott.
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 1st 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.
During the first two years of his tenure as
the Falcon head wrestling coach, Garriott
was also the head wrestling coach at North
Torrance High, a position he held from
1991-2008. In his time at North Torrance,
Garriott led his team to five CIF
championships, six CIF runner-ups and 12
league championships. 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 20 years, Deanne,
have two sons - eight-year-old son, Cael and
three-year-old Caden. |
