No. 1 Fresno Captures State Dual Meet Championship, Defeats No. 2 Cerritos 26-15

NORWALK, Calif. - No. 1 Fresno City and No. 2 Cerritos met in Norwalk, California for the 2022 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Dual Meet Championship on Sunday, November 20th at Cerritos College. 

In a highly competitive meet, the Fresno City Rams prevailed and took a 26-15 win to capture their 14th Dual State Championships in program history. 

125lbs: (CERR) HM Jameer McCrae vs (FCC) No. 5 Ezequiel Jaurrieta 

Ezequiel Jaurrieta was the aggressor in the 125lbs match, scoring first with a takedown just a few seconds into the match to set the tone. Following an escape from Jameer McCrae, the score was 2-1 to end the first period. 

The second period was full of action as Jaurieta extended the lead to 12-3 with a couple four point near falls and a takedown while McCrae added two escapes. 

McCrae continued to compete and recorded a two point near fall at the start of the third to get back into the match. But a reversal and yet another near fall led to a technical fall for Jaurrieta, giving Fresno City a 5-0 lead to start the dual. 

133lbs: (CERR) No. 3 Anthony Pererya vs (FCC) No. 2 Devin Murphy

Devin Murphy came up on top after an initial jockey to score first with a takedown in the first period of action. But Anthony Pererya answered and scored a reversal to tie the score at 2-2. 

Unfortunately, Murphy was hurt on the move and limited his mobility for the match. The match started again after the injury timeout with Pererya choosing the bottom and scoring 1 on an escape. Shortly after, Murphy was not able to continue, leading to a default win for Cerritos. The win gave Cerritos a one point lead at 6-5.

141lbs: (CERR) No. 2 Mario De La Torre vs (FCC) No. 6 Abraham Cerda

The match began with a stalemate in the first minute before Abraham Cerda managed to earn a take down at the 1:20 mark. In the second period, Cerda chose to start in the bottom and worked his way into a reversal to push his lead to 4-0 heading into the final period. 

Mario  De La Torre opened the third with a quick reversal to get on the board, bringing the score to 4-2. The freshman was on top for the remainder of the match but only scored a point for riding time, giving Cerda the win and Fresno City a 8-6 team lead. 

149lbs: (CERR) No. 2 Felix Osorio vs (FCC) No. 3 Nick Dehart

Felix Osorio came out hot and took a healthy amount of shots to start the match. He scored the first take down after catching the leg of Nick Dehart to go up 2-0. Following that, both wrestlers recorded reversals to bring the score to 4-2 at the end of the first. 

Dehart started on the bottom in the second and scored an escape to make it 4-3. But Osorio gained control again with another takedown before Dehart added his second escape to make it 6-4 entering the third.

An escape for Osorio pushed his lead to 7-4, which he held on to help his team regain the lead at 9-8. Osorio earned one more point for riding time, making the final score 8-4.

157lbs: (CERR) No. 6 Trevor Thompson vs (FCC) No. 2 Jackson Morgan

Jackson Morgan used a couple acrobatic moves to get on the board first with a takedown at the 1:30 mark in round one. After gaining control, he scored a four point near fall to take a 6-0 lead. Morgan continued his dominance with a pin and fall, to swifty end the match before the time expired to earn six points, giving the Rams a 14-9 team lead. 

165lbs: (CERR) No. 3 Armando Murillo vs (FCC) No. 1 Roman Mendez

The two standouts battled but neither was able to gain an advantage in the first round. Roman Mendez chose bottom to start the second and scored an escape to open the scoring with 1 minute left in the period.

Murrillo quickly evened the score with an escape of his own at the start of the third. The two were evenly matched in the final two minutes, forcing a fourth and final round. 

At the 1:15 mark in the fourth, Murillo pulled out the win as he circled to score a takedown for a 3-1 victory, cutting FCC's lead to two at 14-12. 

174lbs: (CERR) No. 3 Stone Robledo vs (FCC) No. 2 Reymundo Raiz

Stone Robledo took an early lead after catching the leg of his counterpart and finishing with a takedown. Reymundo Raiz countered to score a reversal and turned into a four point near fall to finish the opening period with a 6-2 lead. 

Raiz took advantage of bottom position in the second and scored an escape to extend his lead to 7-2, which he held until the end of the period. 

Robledo earned one in the third on the initial escape but a two point reversal from Reymundo brought the lead up to 9-3. The Rams regained the momentum in the dual as Reymundo finished his opponent by a score of 10-3 following a riding time point, pushing the Ram lead to 17-12

184lbs: (CERR) No. 2 Rafael Guerra vs (FCC) Jake Prudek

Prudek got on the board with a takedown around the 1:20 mark in round 1 and collected two more points on a near fall as the time expired. In the 2nd, Prudek immediately scored an escape and a takedown with just 20 seconds passing in the period. He grabbed one more point on a stalling call before the second period was over, taking an 8-0 lead.

Guerrero chose neutral and got himself on the board with a critical takedown with 15 seconds remaining. Although he lost the match, Guerro gave his team a chance as he limited the Fresno point total as the Rams gained just three to extend their lead to 20-12. 

197lbs: (CERR) No. 4  Malachi Lyles vs (FCC) No. 3 Rudy Garcia

Garcia pushed forward from the start to gain the lead with a takedown in the opening minutes. He tried to stay on top for the last minute to keep his opponent scoreless but Malachi Lyles managed to escape with less than 10 seconds on the clock to make it a 2-1 score. 

Following an escape to begin the round, Garcia scored another takedown and turned it into a fall to secure six more points for the Rams and another state dual championship for Fresno City as they pushed the lead out of reach at 26-12.

285lbs: (CERR) No. 5 Kobe Pablo vs (FCC) No. 4 Javier Martinez

Neither of the heavyweights managed to get on the board in the initial period but Martinez chose the bottom to open the second and recorded the first point of the bout. Pablo returned the favor and scored his own escape to even the score at 1-1. 

With both wrestlers failing to score in the third, the match went two more rounds before Pablo scored a reversal to take a 3-1 lead. Martinez answered with an escape in the final 10 seconds but was unable to score again, giving Pablo a 3-2 win to cap the day.

Both teams will now prepare for the CCCAA State Championships on December 9-10th at West Hills College Lemoore.