Mt. San Antonio College wins 3C2A state championships, with Sacramento City in second
by John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com
The 2023 3C2A wrestling season ended in undefeated fashion for the Mt. San Antonio College Mounties. Carrying the weight of expectations and wearing the target of front runners, Mt. SAC kept focus and brought home the Team Championship for the second time in three years.
A trio of teams lead by runner up Sacramento City were unable to put sufficient pressure on the champions. Try as they might, no program was able to derail the Mt. SAC train. Returning Champions Fresno City slipped to 3rd in the team race.
Quiet and unassuming, Head Coach David Rivera allows his team to do all the talking - on the mat. During the tournament Rivera insisted that he doesn't look further than the match at hand. Now with the books closed on 2023 Rivera took a moment to reflect on the Mounties remarkable season.
"I'm very proud of this team and what we have been able to accomplish. Throughout the adversities of a wrestling season, we managed to stay focused and find ways to get things done," said Rivera
Indeed, with four Champions and seven other medalists, Mt. San Antonio College takes home the Team Championship and bragging rights heading into the 2024 season.
The Panthers of Sacramento City College finished comfortably ahead of regional rival Fresno City. #2 Ethan Boyd (165 lbs) took control early in his finals match. Under relentless pressure, Sierra's Joshua Thomas lost by fall. #1 Adrian Chavez-Morales (184 lbs) with a quick first period fall earned the Manuel Gorriaran Award for the most falls in the least time. Completing the Panther trio of champions was #1 Ethan Birch (197 lbs) who defeated Santa Rosa standout, Rayhan Jaleel by decision 9-5.
The Finals provided plenty of fireworks for the fans gathered at Cuesta College. Outstanding Wrestler #2 Devin Martinez (133 lbs) from Rio Hondo defeated #1 Adrian Chavez from Fresno City by decision 15-10. #4 Brandon Bollinger (149 lbs) of Victor Valley upset #1 Mario De La Torre of Cerritos by decision 10-3. One week earlier, De La Torre had defeated Bollinger 7-4 in the Southern Regional finals.
Heavyweight Champion #4 Isaiah Perez from Chabot College completed an unblemished season without relinquishing a single takedown. He closed his 2023 campaign defeating #3 Joseph Nava from Santa Ana by fall at 3:25.
After a 40-year absence, we welcome College of the Redwoods back to the show. Head Coach Coach Benvenuti led a determined group at State. "All we ask is for each athlete to be the best person they can be that day." His wrestlers earned medals at (125 lbs) 5th place Dakota Sanders, (141 lbs) 5th place Kymani Capri, and (285 lbs) 6th place Gerard Marshall.
3C2A Final Team Scores
1: Mt. San Antonio College - 181.5
2: Sacramento City College - 163.5
3: Fresno City College - 122.0
4: Cerritos College - 94.0
5: Bakersfield College - 89.0
6: Rio Hondo College - 73.0
7: Palomar College - 56.5
8: Santa Ana College - 51.5
9: Skyline College - 48.5
10: Chabot College - 45.5
10: Victor Valley College - 45.5
12: College Of Redwoods - 42.0
13: Modesto Junior College - 41.5
14: Moorpark College - 37.0
15: Sierra College - 30.0
16: West Hills College - 27.0
17: Santa Rosa Junior College - 26.5
18: Lassen College - 20.0
19: Cuesta College - 16.0
20: Shasta College - 14.5
21: East Los Angeles College - 10.0
22: Delta College - 4.5
Most Outstanding Wrestler Award
Devin Martinez (133 LBS) Rio Hondo College
Manuel Gorriaran Award - Most Falls/Least Time
Adrian Chavez-Morales (184 LBS) Sacramento City College
NWCA California Community College Men's National Coach of the Year 2023
David Rivera, Mt. San Antonio College
NWCA California Community College Men's National Assistant Coach of the Year 2023Chris Mecate, Mt. San Antonio College
INDIVIDUAL MEDAL MATCH RESULTS, Saturday 12/9/23
125 1st/2nd - Christopher Calderon (Mt. San Antonio) dec Adrian Limon (Mt. San Antonio) (Dec 4-2)
125 3rd/4th - Scotty Moore (Skyline) dec Dylan Atherton (Rio Hondo) (MD 16-8)
125 5th/6th - Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods) dec.Abram Granados (Fresno City) (TF-1.5 6:42 (25-6)
125 7th/8th - Tallon Chambers (Fresno City) dec Cameron Fernando (Moorpark) (Fall 2:51)
133 1st/2nd - Devin Martinez (Rio Hondo) dec Adrian Chavez (Fresno City) (Dec 15-10)
133 3rd/4th - Derrek Alcantar (Bakersfield) dec Emilio Medina (Mt. San Antonio) (Fall 2:01)
133 5th/6th - Gio Urbieta (West Hills) dec Ben Quilpa (Sacramento City) (MD 16-5)
133 7th/8th - Dustin Merlos (Lassen) dec Pedro Lacerda (Mt. San Antonio) (For.)
141 1st/2nd - Zachary Parker (Mt. San Antonio) dec.Evan Roy (Victor Valley) (Fall 2:08)
141 3rd/4th - Matthew Terrence (Fresno City) dec Ahmaad Lewis (Sacramento City) (MD 12-4)
141 5th/6th - Kymani Capri (College of the Redwoods) dec Finnegan Long (Rio Hondo) (Fall 2:08)
141 7th/8th - Jake Topartzer (Cerritos) dec Zane Kowalkowski (Shasta) (Fall 1:26)
149 1st/2nd - Brandon Bollinger (Victor Valley) dec Mario De La Torre (Cerritos) (Dec 10-3)
149 3rd/4th - Anthony Nunes (Modesto Junior) dec Matthew Arias (Fresno City) (Dec 4-2)
149 5th/6th - Ammar Khan (Sacramento City) dec Dorian Parker (Palomar) (Fall 3:37)
149 7th/8th - Jasper Centeno (Cerritos) dec Brian Gieger (Mt. San Antonio) (Fall 2:36)
157 1st/2nd - Alex Ramirez (Mt. San Antonio College) dec.Caolite Drury (Cerritos) (Fall 5:30)
157 3rd/4th - Alfredo Trejo-Mendoza (Sacramento City) dec Anthony Perez (Palomar) (MD 11-2)
157 5th/6th - Gabe Carrillo (Moorpark) dec Chase Mirelez (Modesto Junior) (MD 16-2)
157 7th/8th - Nicholas Dehart (Fresno City) dec Joshua Padilla (East Los Angeles) (MD 9-1)
165 1st/2nd - Ethan Boyd (Sacramento City) dec Joshua Thomas (Sierra) (Fall 5:21)
165 3rd/4th - Edward Ramirez (Santa Ana) dec Isaac Romero-Martinez (Modesto Junior) (MD 12-2)
165 5th/6th - Adrian Juarez (Bakersfield) dec Caidence Turner (Mt. San Antonio) (MD 12-1)
165 7th/8th - Thomas Venezia (Skyline) dec Cael Garriott (Cerritos) (Fall 3:54)
174 1st/2nd - Nathan Cruz (Mt. San Antonio) dec Jazziel Perez (Moorpark) (Dec 4-1)
174 3rd/4th - DJ Weimer (Palomar) dec Marcos Gamez (Fresno City) (TF-1.5 3:39 (17-2)
174 5th/6th - Andrew Hamant (Sacramento City) dec Joshua Shepard (Bakersfield) (M. For.)
174 7th/8th - Anthony Hidalgo (Rio Hondo) dec Michael Negrete (Sierra) (Fall 4:20)
184 1st/2nd - Adrian Chavez-Morales (Sacramento City) dec Bryan Thorne (Skyline) )
184 3rd/4th - Rafael Roman-Amador (Bakersfield) dec Adrian Garcia (Fresno City) (MD 19-8)
184 5th/6th - Andres Carrillo (Santa Ana) dec Isaac Villalobos (Bakersfield) (MD 14-3)
184 7th/8th - Anthony Incantalupo (Rio Hondo) dec Andrew Zarate (Lassen) (Fall 3:56)
197 1st/2nd - Ethan Birch (Sacramento City) dec Rayhan Jaleel (Santa Rosa Jr.) (Dec 9-5)
197 3rd/4th - Callan Ivy (Chabot) dec Christian Davidson (Cuesta) (TF-1.5 6:59 (18-3)
197 5th/6th - Frankie Pomilia IV (Santa Rosa) dec Uriel Vasquez (Bakersfield) (Dec 8-1)
197 7th/8th - Armando Sandoval (Cerritos) dec Isaac Lopez (Mt. San Antonio) (MD 14-6)
285 1st/2nd - Isaiah Perez (Chabot) dec Joseph Nava (Santa Ana) (Fall 3:25)
285 3rd/4th - Dib Sawaya (Mt. San Antonio) dec Kobe Pablo (Cerritos) (TB-2 2-2)
285 5th/6th - Evan Glines (Sacramento City) dec Gerard Marshall (College of the Redwoods) (Fall 5:25)
285 7th/8th - Taven Avila (West Hills) dec Mustafa Farha (Palomar) (Fall 0:17)