Getting their first look at every team in the state, the Cerritos College wrestling team finished in third place at the Lemoore Tournament on Saturday. The Falcons, who had 11 placers, compiled 176.5 team points and trailed only Fresno City College with 194.5 team points and Mt. San Antonio College with 184.5 team points. It appears now as though those three will be the top contenders for the 3C2A State Championship at the end of the season.

Highlighting the day for Cerritos were a pair of wrestlers that advanced to the championship match. Although neither of them came away with their individual weight championship, they all scored key team points in helping the Falcons placed third overall. At 141 pounds, freshman Isaac Gonzalez (Western HS) posted four consecutive wins to reach the championship match, as did freshman 149-pound Sean Otero (Norwalk HS). At 174 pounds, freshman Abraham Galicia (St. John Bosco HS) won four of his five matches, including his third place match, as did sophomore 285-pound Malachi Lyles (Mayfair HS), who accounted for the team's two third place finishers.

For Gonzalez, he posted technical fall wins over Daxton Van Duren of Sierra College, 18-3 and then matched that score against Fresno City College's Jake Jennings. A 21-4 techical fall over Andre Garcia of Santa Ana College, sent Gonzalez to the semifinals, where he defeated Rocky Humphrey of Victor Valley College, 13-7. In the championship match, Gonzalez took on top-seeded Jason Saenz of Mt. San Antonio College and dropped a tough 11-2 decision. Otero opened his day by pinning Michael Perez of Moorpark College in 1:35 and then followed with a 14-5 major decision against Kayden Pryor of Cuesta College. A 7-1 win over Brendon Ko of Bakersfield College advanced Otero to the semifinals, where he escaped with a win over Kenny Rodgers of Fresno City College. Facing top-seeded Michael Williams of Mt. San Antonio in the championship match, the two were scoreless through the first two periods before Williams posted a pair of three-point takedowns and went on for a 6-3 victory.

At 174 pounds, Galicia pinned his first three opponents in the first period until he dropped an 8-5 decision against Brock Kitchen of Fresno City in the semifinals, who came in as the top-seeded wrestler. Trailing 4-1 after the first two periods, Galicia earned an escape point and then took a brief 5-4 lead after a takedown with 56 seconds left. Kitchen quickly escaped five seconds later and then added a takedown at the buzzer for the final score. Lyles, who was seeded #1 for the tournament, opened with a pin and then followed with major wins over David Ingles of Modesto College (12-0) and Seth Seibert of Bakersfield College (13-5). In the semifinals, Lyles was facing Dylan Avila of Santa Ana College in a scoreless match heading into the third period. Avila posted a reversal and four-point takedown before pinning Lyles with five seconds left in the match. Competing in the third place match, Lyles responded with an 8-7 win over Diego Nuno of Lemoore College. Lyles led 5-4 after two periods and after an early escape point by Nuno tied the match, Nono then earned a pair of penalty points when Lyles was called for stalling, which gave Nuno a 7-5 lead. But Lyles had the last move, as he recorded a three-point takedown in the final seconds of the match.

Also placing on the day for Cerritos were sophomore 133-pound Elijah Flores (Santa Fe HS) and sohomore 197-pound Nelson Ramirez (Lakewood HS), who both reached the semifinals and finished in fourth place. Sophomore 125-pound Adrian Jimenez (Marina HS) and freshman 165-pound Nathan Castellanos (Trabuco Hills HS) both came in fifth place, while sophomore 157 pound Noah Zuniga (Trabuco Hills HS), who reached the quarterfinals, finished in seventh place. Freshman 141-pound Benjamin Salas (Santa Fe HS) finished the day in eighth place.

Photos by John Sachs