Team dual state championship remains in Fresno

For the third straight season, Fresno City College and Cerritos College squared off for the CCCAA Team Dual State Championship. On Sunday in the Central Valley, the Rams picked up their second straight championship, as they handed the Falcons a 36-6 setback. The loss was the first of the season for Cerritos, who will be hosting the CCCAA State Championships on December 7-8.

125 Pounds: Mario Moreno (FCC) def. Josh Mendoza (CERR), 4-1
In the first match of the day, Mendoza, who's ranked #3 in the state, recorded an early takedown against the #6-ranked Mendoza and went on to ride him the remainder of the first period. Holding a 2:41 advantage in riding time, Mendoza was able to add an escape point in the second period and maintained the riding time advantage with just the third period left. Although Mendoza was able to escape in the third period, he was unable to take down Moreno and suffered the loss.

133 Pounds - Isaiah Perez (FCC) def. Andres Gonzalez (CERR), injury default
The match lasted just :08 seconds, as the #1-ranked Perez made his first move against Gonzalez, who went down with an injury and was unable to continue. The injury default scored six team points for the Rams.

141 Pounds - Josh Brown (CERR) def. Luis Ramos (FCC), 6-4
In one of the two matches won by the Falcons, the #1-ranked Brown remained undefeated on the season with a hard fought win. With less than a minute left in the first period, Brown got on the scoreboard with a two-point takedown, only to see the #7-ranked Ramos quickly escape. The match was tied just :17 seconds into the second period after Ramos picked up another escape point. But Brown was there to record another takedown with a minute left and led, 4-3 heading into the third period. Starting the period down, Brown worked his way into position for a two-point reversal and held a 6-3 advantage. Late in the period, Ramos registered his fourth escape point of the match, but ran out of time, which made the match, 9-3 in favor of Fresno City.

149 Pounds - Daniel Ruiz (FCC) def. Devin Daugherty (CERR), 17-6
Fresno City started to pull away in the match, with #2-ranked Ruiz getting the ball rolling. After surrendering an early reversal against the #8-ranked Daugherty, it was Ruiz who took over in the match and picked up six points in the final five seconds of the match. After a takedown, he got Daugherty's shoulders on the mat for a four-point nearfall at the buzzer. Once again, using the entire period, Ruiz extended his team to 14-3 when he picked up a takedown with 1:14 left on the clock and eventually got the shoulders down once again for another four-point nearfall as time expired. Daughtery did pick up three points in the third period, but it wasn't enough, as the Rams increased their team lead to 13-3.

157 Pounds - Ruben Garcia (FCC) pinned Nick Dozier (CERR), 1:57
Needing less that two minutes to record the pin, the top-ranked Garcia allowed an early takedown to Dozier before a quick escape led to a takedown. Quickly working himself into position, Garcia earned a four-point nearfall before finishing off the match with the pin.

165 Pounds - Augie Garcia (FCC) def. Jesse Pacheco (CERR), 12-4
Taking on Pacheco, who was competing at 165 pounds for the first time all season, the #2-ranked Garcia worked hard for the victory. He picked up a takedown just :11 seconds into the match and added another midway through the first period. Through the first two periods, Garcia had four takedowns, with Pacheco expelling all of his energy working to escape. Successfully getting out of the hold by Garcia four times, Pacheco was unable to generate any kind of offense and suffered the loss. With six matches completed, the Rams held a commanding 23-3 lead in the team score.

174 Pounds - Abner Romero (FCC) def. Zack Gonzalez (CERR), 9-3
With two of the top three ranked wrestlers at the weight competing, the #1-ranked Romero got the early advantage with a takedown just :14 seconds into the match. After the #3-ranked Gonzalez was able to escape, Romero took a 4-1 lead into the second period with a takedown with just :08 seconds left on the clock. A quick escape and takedown in the first minute of the second period made it a 7-1 lead for Romero, while Gonzalez was able to pick up a reversal in the third period to draw to within 7-3. But Romero was able to get out and added another point with riding time.

184 Pounds - Jerrin Dean (FCC) pinned Jarod Nunez (CERR), 1:14
Another quick pin by the Rams swelled their team lead to 32-3, as the #7-ranked Dean finished off Nunez is just 1:14. A quick takedown, followed by a four-point nearfall preceded the eventual end to the match and another six team points for Fresno City.

197 Pounds - Miguel Ruiz def. Deniss Hernandes (CERR), 12-1
Although he was trailing in the match, 3-0 in the second period, Hernandes was penalized three times for stalling, which eventually gave Ruiz a 6-0 lead early in the third period. In the final minute of the match, Ruiz earned a pair of takedowns to post the 11-point win and earn four team points for the Rams.

285 Pounds - Randy Gonzalez (CERR) def. Angel Mariscal (FCC), 4-1
In the final match of the day, the #5-ranked Gonzalez was locked in a tight defensive battle with the #6-ranked Mariscal. After a scoreless first period, Gonzalez recorded an escape point thee seconds into the second period, while Mariscal earned an escape point in the third period. At the time of the escape, Gonzalez had :56 seconds of riding time and was close to the require 1:00 for a point in the match. But with :18 seconds left before overtime, Gonzalez earned a two-point takedown and earned the extra time to collect another point in riding time for the victory.