Mt. San Antonio in position to repeat after strong first day at 3C2A championships

Lemoore, California – Mt. San Antonio head coach David Rivera doesn’t get too verbose when talking about his team. He keeps his message simple.

“We just have to keep wrestling,” said Rivera following the quarterfinals of the 2024 3C2A men’s wrestling championships at Lemoore College in Lemoore, California.

The Mounties went 8-2 in the quarterfinals and built a 109.5-89 lead over second-place Fresno City College after the first day of competition. Fresno City punched seven wrestlers into the semifinals – the two teams will meet head-to-head at 149 and 157 pounds.

Coming into Friday, the battle for first was expected to be a dogfight between the two regional champions with a competitive race for third expected to unfold.

Sacramento City, Palomar, Santa Rosa, Lassen and Victor Valley each qualified 10 or more wrestlers to the tournament, while five more teams brought nine.

Cerritos, which brought eight wrestlers and assured itself of six placers, holds a half-point lead over Palomar for third at 60-59.5. Sacramento City is in fifth with 56.

Mt. San Antonio finished the first day of competition with 11 of its 12 wrestlers assured of a top-eight finish and an overall record of 23-4. Fresno City is still within striking distance, but needs its remaining eight wrestlers to pick up bonus points to make up for the four wrestlers eliminated on Friday.

At 125 pounds, Palomar's Caden Hanover moved into the semifinals with a 9-8 victory over Fresno City's NorCal champion and top-ranked Zane Cerda. Hanover was third in the SoCal regional last week and to reach the finals, he'll have to go through another Fresno City Ram Eczequiel Jaurreita, who advanced with a 19-5 major decision over SoCal  runner-up Jesse Hernandez of Cerritos. Jaurrieta was fifth in 2022.

Down low, SoCal champion Jimmy Reyes will face Dakota Sanders of the College of the Redwoods. Sanders was fifth last season and becomes the school's first two-time placewinner since 1975-76 when Eric Woosley finished third and first. The school brought wrestling back last season after dropping it following the 1982 season.

Ricardo Solorio of Santa Ana picked up two bonus wins to advance to the semifinals at 133 pounds. Solorio will face SoCal champion Jason Saenz of Mt. San Antonio. Saenz rolled into the semifinals after a first round fall and a quarterfinal technical fall over returning placewinner Gio Urbieta of host Lemoore. NorCal champion Dustin Merlos of Lassen was picked off in the quarterfinals by Victor Valley's Andrew Diaz 10-8. Diaz broke a 7-7 tie with a takedown midway through the third period. Diaz will face SoCal runner-up Mason Carrillo of Moorpark in the semifinals. Carillo pinned Sacramento City's Ben Quilpa with one second left in what was a tight match prior to the fall.  

Victor Valley’s Chris Guerrero moved into the semifinals at 141 pounds, setting up a SoCal regional semifinal rematch with Cerritos’ Yoshia Funakoshi. Guerrero pinned Fresno City’s NorCal champion Abraham Cerda at 6:38, while Funakoshi pinned Rio Hondo’s Shawn Torres in 5:39. Palomar’s Diego Peraza will face Mt. San Antonio’s Aldo Quintero in the other semifinal. Peraza represented Mexico at the U20 world championships this past September in Pontevedra, Spain.

At 149 pounds, Santa Ana’s SoCal champion Alireza Kaveh was deadly with his tilts from the top position. Kaveh opened up with a 19-5 major decision to open the tournament and reached the semifinals with a 18-1 technical fall over Lassen’s Robias Robert-Larson in the quarterfinals. Kaveh will face Modesto’s NorCal runner-up Demarcus Turner in the semis. Turner edged Mt. San Antonio’s Michael Williams 4-1 in overtime. NorCal champion James Wright of Fresno City pinned Santa Rosa’s Vicente Rodarte in the quarters. Wright will face Mt. San Antonio’s Brian Geiger, who outlasted Sacramento City’s Phu Le 2-1.

At 157 pounds, all four regional finalists advanced to the semifinals. Sierra’s Islam Abdullaeu, the NorCal champ, will face SoCal runner-up Joe Anthony Perez of Palomar in the upper bracket semifinal, while SoCal champion Maxximus Martinez of Mt. San Antonio will face NorCal runner-up Noah Reynolds of Fresno City. Martinez earned a 9-1 major decision over Giovanni Ruiz of Bakersfield, while Reynolds pinned Cerritos’ Nicholas Pham.

The top four wrestlers in the state all reached the semifinals as top-ranked Jack Estevez of Mt. San Antonio teched Richardo Valdez of Victor Valley in the quarterfinals. Estevez will face third-ranked Isaac Romero-Martinez of Modesto in the semifinals. Romero-Martinez finished fourth last season and majored Lemoore’s Philip Arroyo 17-7 in the quarters. In the bottom bracket, Fresno City’s second-ranked NorCal champion Max McWilliams will face Cuesta’s Preston Scharf. McWilliams bested Scharf’s teammate, Marshall Beecham, 6-2 in the quarters while Scharf pinned Palomar’s returning placer DJ Weimer.

Fresno City’s James Prudek is the only returning champion in the field and he was solid en route to the semifinals. Prudek, who won at 174 pounds in 2022, opened up with a quick fall in the opening round before majoring Mt. San Antonio’s Javier Montes 10-0 in the quarterfinals. Prudek will take on SoCal runner-up and third-ranked Jakob Hand in the semifinals. The bottom semifinal will feature Cerritos’ Tyler Hanna and Chabot’s Fazal Mohammed.

The bottom bracket at 184 pounds blew up with Sacramento City’s NorCal champion Logan Leckie was upended in the first round by Rio Hondo’s Bobby Ramirez. It got more complicated when SoCal runner-up Ivan Natcell of Palomar was upset by Victor Valley’s Frankie Stevenson. Stevenson was sixth at last week’s SoCal regional after defaulting to sixth after a semifinal loss. The draw for Stevenson is favorable as he’ll face Lemoore’s Robert Felipe, who beat Ramirez in the quarterfinals. Stevenson majored Felipe in the first round of regionals last weekend. Up top, it’s an all-SoCal semi with top-ranked Roman Loya of Mt. San Antonio set to face Cerritos’ Farzad Hashimi.

Returning runner-up Rayhan Jaleel of Santa Rosa was upended by Cuesta’s Chance Evans in overtime to disrupt the order of the top bracket, while Bakersfield’s Angel Cervantes pinned Chabot’s Almazbkov Abdymanap in the bottom bracket. Evans will face SoCal runner-up Dylan Henry of Palomar while Cervantes will face Mt. San Antonio’s Mo Talebi in the bottom bracket. Talebi has a wealth of freestyle experience, wrestling on age-group teams for Iran. He was a 2016 U17 Asian silver medalist and finished 16^th at the World Championships in a weight won by the United States’ Yianni Diakomihalis.

Fresno City punched both its heavyweights into the semifinals, led by top-ranked Joe Alaniz, who was third in 2021, and Javier Martinez, who was fifth in 2022. Alaniz fell behind early but rallied back in the first period to pin Sierra’s Bryce Meggers. Alaniz will face Bakersfield’s Jonathan Garcia, who beat Modesto’s Cody Ruiz in overtime. Martinez will face Sacramento City’s Kendrick Salcido, who majored Rio Hondo’s SoCal champion Julian Bilezikjian 9-1.

Even with the lead and eight wrestlers trying to punch through to Saturday night’s finals, Rivera knows it’s the wrestlers in the consolations that are also crucial to the Mounties if they want to repeat as champions.

“They just have to wrestle back and don’t let one loss ruin their tournament,” said Rivera. “Come back, have fun and wrestle.”

Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. Pacific on Saturday.

3C2A MEN’S WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

GOLDEN EAGLE ARENA

LEMOORE, CALIFORNIA

Team Scores (After Day 1)
1. Mt. San Antonio 109.5

2. Fresno City 89

3. Cerritos 60

4. Palomar 59.5

5. Sacramento City 56

6. Victor Valley 41

7. Cuesta 39.5

7. Modesto 39.5

9. Bakersfield 36.5

9. Lemoore 36.5

11. Sierra 25.5

12. Chabot 25

12. Rio Hondo 25

12. Santa Ana 25

15. Santa Rosa 23

16. Lassen 16

17. College of the Redwoods 11

18. Moorpark 10

19. Shasta 4

20. Delta 3.5

21. Skyline 2.5

22. East Los Angeles 0

Semifinal Pairings
(State Rankings Noted)

125 pounds

#6 Caden Hanover (Palomar) vs. #8 Eczequiel Jaurrieta (Fresno City)

#2 Jimmy Reyes (Lemoore) vs. #5 Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods)

133 Pounds

#1 Jason Saenz (Mt. San Antonio) vs. #6 Ricardo Solorio (Santa Ana)

#7 Andrew Diaz (Victor Valley) vs. #4 Mason Carrillo (Moorpark)

141 Pounds

#3 Chris Guerrero (Victor Valley) vs. #2 Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos)

#1 Diego Peraza (Palomar) vs. #4 Aldo Quintero (Mt. San Antonio)

149 Pounds

#2 Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) vs. #5 Demarcus Turner (Modesto)

#1 James Wright (Fresno City) vs. #3 Brian Geiger (Mt. San Antonio)

157 Pounds

#2 Islam Abdullaeu (Sierra) vs. #3 Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar)

#1 Maxximus Martinez (Mt. San Antonio) vs. #5 Noah Reynolds (Fresno City)

165 Pounds

#1 Jack Estevez (Mt. San Antonio) vs. #3 Isaac Romero-Martinez (Modesto)

#2 Max McWilliams (Fresno City) vs. #4 Preston Scharf (Cuesta)

174 Pounds

#1 James Prudek (Fresno City) vs. #3 Jakob Hand (Mt. San Antonio)

#2 Tyler Hanna (Cerritos) vs. #4 Fazal Mohammad (Chabot)

184 Pounds

#1 Roman Loya (Mt. San Antonio) vs. #5 Farzad Hashimi (Cerritos)

Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) vs. #8 Robert Felipe (Lemoore)

197 Pounds

#5 Chance Evans (Cuesta) vs. #4 Dylan Henry (Palomar)

#2 Mo Talebi (Mt. San Antonio) vs. #7 Angel Cervantes (Bakersfield)

285 Pounds

#6 Kendrick Salcido (Sacramento City) vs. #2 Javier Martinez (Fresno City)

#1 Joe Alaniz (Fresno City) vs. #5 Jonathan Garcia (Bakersfield)

Quarterfinal Results

125 Pounds

Caden Hanover (Palomar) DEC Zane Cerda (Fresno City) 9-8

Eczequiel Jaurrieta (Fresno City) MD Jesse Hernandez (Cerritos) 19-5

Jimmy Reyes (Lemoore) DEC Isaac Antunez (Santa Ana) 6-1

Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods) FALL Derek Ruffin (Santa Rosa) 6:35

133 Pounds

Jason Saenz (Mt. San Antonio) TF Gio Urbieta (Lemoore) 6:10 (18-1)

Ricardo Solorio (Santa Ana) TF Daimen Rodriguez (Cuesta) 4:46 (17-2)

Andrew Diaz (Victor Valley) DEC Dustin Merlos (Lassen) 10-8

Mason Carrillo (Moorpark) DEC Ben Quilpa (Sacramento City) 6-5

141 Pounds

Chris Guerrero (Victor Valley) FALL Abraham Cerda (Fresno City) 6:38

Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos) FALL Shawn Torres (Rio Hondo) 5:39

Diego Peraza (Palomar) FALL Azim Azimy (Chabot) 6:10

Aldo Quintero (Mt. San Antonio) DEC Talon Niimi (Sacramento City) 5-2

149 Pounds

Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) TF Tobias Robert -larson (Lassen) 4:21 (18-1)

Demarcus Turner (Modesto) DEC Michael Williams (Mt. San Antonio) 4-1, SV

James Wright (Fresno City) FALL Vicente Rodarte (Santa Rosa) 2:50

Brian Geiger (Mt. San Antonio) DEC Phu Le (Sacramento City) 2-1

157 Pounds

Islam Abdullaeu (Sierra) DEC Grant Eklund (Cuesta) 9-5

Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar) DEC James Juarez (Bakersfield) 8-3

Maxximus Martinez (Mt. San Antonio) MD Giovanni Ruiz (Bakersfield) 9-1

Noah Reynolds (Fresno City) FALL Nicolas Pham (Cerritos) 6:01

165 Pounds

Jack Estevez (Mt. San Antonio) TF Ricardo Valdez (Victor Valley) 4:38 (20-5)

Isaac Romero-martinez (Modesto) MD Philip Arroyo (Lemoore) 17-7

Max Mcwilliams (Fresno City) DEC Marshall Beecham (Cuesta) 6-2

Preston Scharf (Cuesta) FALL DJ Weimer (Palomar) 2:52

174 Pounds

Jake Prudek (Fresno City) MD Javier Montes (Mt. San Antonio) 10-0

Jakob Hand (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Aiden Valencia (Victor Valley) 2:29

Tyler Hanna (Cerritos) TF Maksim Sherstnev (Sierra) 5:55 (17-0)

Fazal Mohammad (Chabot) MD Zack Morgan (Santa Rosa) 11-2

184 Pounds

Roman Loya (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Ricardo Ugalde (Fresno City) 1:29

Farzad Hashimi (Cerritos) MD Adrian Perez pulido (Modesto) 11-3

Robert Felipe (Lemoore) DEC Bobby Ramirez (Rio Hondo) 2-1

Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) DEC Ivan Natceli (Palomar) 5-1

197 Pounds

Chance Evans (Cuesta) DEC Rayhan Jaleel (Santa Rosa) 4-1, SV

Dylan Henry (Palomar) DEC Jaremiah Juarez (Rio Hondo) 16-11

Mo Talebi (Mt. San Antonio) TF Vaea Salt (Sacramento City) 2:39 (20-3)

Angel Cervantes (Bakersfield) FALL Almazbekov Abdymanap (Chabot) 3:47

285 Pounds

Kendrick Salcido (Sacramento City) MD Julian Bilezikjian (Rio Hondo) 9-1

Javier Martinez (Fresno City) DEC Xavier Moran (Lemoore) 3-1, TB1

Joseph Alaniz (Fresno City) FALL Bryce Meggers (Sierra) 2:44

Jonathan Garcia (Bakersfield) DEC Cody Ruiz (Modesto) 8-5, SV

First Round Results

125 Pounds

Zane Cerda (Fresno City) FALL Joshuah valdivia (Lemoore) 1:32

Caden Hanover (Palomar) FALL Jesus Juarez (Sierra) 5:58

Jesse Hernandez (Cerritos) FALL Shevy Landis-ku (Lassen) 2:54

Eczequiel Jaurrieta (Fresno City) FALL Rylan Madrid (Mt. San Antonio) 1:08

Jimmy Reyes (Lemoore) FALL Abdullah Noori (Chabot) 4:46

Isaac Antunez (Santa Ana) MD Daniel Arellano (Sacramento City) 16-7

Dakota Sanders (College of the Redwoods) MD Blade Owens (Victor Valley) 13-1

Derek Ruffin (Santa Rosa) DEC Dominic Marquez (Cuesta) 8-5

133 Pounds

Jason Saenz (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Aaron Ly (Chabot) 1:09

Gio Urbieta (Lemoore) MD Zeth Cerda (Fresno City) 12-4

Ricardo Solorio (Santa Ana) MD Rylan Mitchell (Delta) 13-0

Daimen Rodriguez (Cuesta) DEC Marcus Mireles (Delta) 13-9

Dustin Merlos (Lassen) MD David Govea (East Los Angeles) 11-1

Andrew Diaz (Victor Valley) MD Erickson Edpao (Santa Rosa) 15-1

Ben Quilpa (Sacramento City) FALL Makai Ito (Palomar) 4:57

Mason Carrillo (Moorpark) FALL Eben Jones (Sierra) 3:54

141 Pounds

Abraham Cerda (Fresno City) DEC Adam Duong (Rio Hondo) 12-5

Chris Guerrero (Victor Valley) DEC Abriel Padilla (Modesto) 9-4

Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos) FALL Noah Abel (Sierra) 1:07

Shawn Torres (Rio Hondo) DEC Karmine Berndt (Santa Rosa) 14-12

Diego Peraza (Palomar) DEC Aceyn Meyer (Shasta) 15-11

Azim Azimy (Chabot) DEC Angel Salgado (Victor Valley) 11-8

Talon Niimi (Sacramento City) MD Brendon Ko (Bakersfield) 18-6

Aldo Quintero (Mt. San Antonio) TF Ali Hamzia (Santa Rosa) 7:00 (17-2)

149 Pounds

Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) MD Zane Kowalkowski (Shasta) 19-5

Tobias Robert -larson (Lassen) FALL Larry Cruz (Rio Hondo) 2:51

Michael Williams (Mt. San Antonio) TF Brock Birkett (Sierra) 5:23 (19-2)

Demarcus Turner (Modesto) FALL Izaac olivas (Lemoore) 6:05

James Wright (Fresno City) MD Luke VanBrabant (Cuesta) 13-0

Vicente Rodarte (Santa Rosa) DEC Nicholas Rodriguez (Palomar) 6-5

Phu Le (Sacramento City) TF Matthias Valdez (Victor Valley) 3:54 (19-1)

Brian Geiger (Mt. San Antonio) TF Angel Anaya (Lassen) 5:16 (16-0)

157 Pounds

Islam Abdullaeu (Sierra) MD Cory Flores (Santa Ana) 15-2

Grant Eklund (Cuesta) TF Ikaika Madayag (Santa Rosa) 4:12 (15-0)

Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar) FALL Leo Rubino-lobue (Skyline) 0:35

James Juarez (Bakersfield) DEC Caden Diamond (Sacramento City) 5-3

Maxximus Martinez (Mt. San Antonio) DEC Andrew Longoria (Rio Hondo) 7-2

Giovanni Ruiz (Bakersfield) DEC Quinten Maldanado (Delta) 10-3

Noah Reynolds (Fresno City) TF Jacob Moreo (Rio Hondo) 3:48 (16-1)

Nicolas Pham (Cerritos) FALL Ayden Marshall (Modesto) 2:55

165 Pounds

Jack Estevez (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Kyle Hayes (Sierra) 1:11

Ricardo Valdez (Victor Valley) DEC Munther Saleh (Sacramento City) 5-3

Philip Arroyo (Lemoore) FALL Luke Peasley (Skyline) 2:38

Isaac Romero-martinez (Modesto) MD Armando Vega (Bakersfield) 16-5

Max Mcwilliams (Fresno City) MD Kevin Casillas (Santa Ana) 14-0

Marshall Beecham (Cuesta) FALL Sawyer Casarez (Shasta) 3:48

DJ Weimer (Palomar) FALL Khalid Ghani (Modesto) 1:33

Preston Scharf (Cuesta) FALL Conor Boyle (Lassen) 2:40

174 Pounds

Jake Prudek (Fresno City) FALL Joey clark (Lemoore) 0:56

Javier Montes (Mt. San Antonio) MD Kelly Little (Sacramento City) 13-2

Jakob Hand (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Justin Barillas (Delta) 2:07

Aiden Valencia (Victor Valley) DEC Rosalio Leal (Modesto) 4-1, SV

Tyler Hanna (Cerritos) FALL Brian Mills (Lassen) 0:51

Maksim Sherstnev (Sierra) DEC Adrian Juarez (Bakersfield) 8-2

Fazal Mohammad (Chabot) TF Danny Cox (Palomar) 5:11 (22-7)

Zack Morgan (Santa Rosa) DEC Steven Ceja (Rio Hondo) 16-12

184 Pounds

Roman Loya (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Mathew Casado (Sierra) 2:04

Ricardo Ugalde (Fresno City) MD Miguel Montano (Bakersfield) 13-3

Farzad Hashimi (Cerritos) DEC Jesus Anguiano (Santa Rosa) 4-1

Adrian Perez pulido (Modesto) DEC Ben Setum (Cerritos) 10-4

Bobby Ramirez (Rio Hondo) FALL Logan Leckie (Sacramento City) 4:39

Robert felipe (Lemoore) DEC Francisco Espinoza (Chabot) 14-7

Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) FALL Andrew Zarate (Lassen) 6:42

Ivan Natceli (Palomar) MD Luke Harrison (Sacramento City) 10-2

197 Pounds

Rayhan Jaleel (Santa Rosa) TF Joseph Robles (Victor Valley) 6:34 (20-2)

Chance Evans (Cuesta) FALL Joe Ellis (Santa Rosa) 2:54

Dylan Henry (Palomar) FALL Chris Wells (Lassen) 3:00

Jaremiah Juarez (Rio Hondo) FALL Prince Gainous (Lassen) 2:45

Mo Talebi (Mt. San Antonio) FALL Erick Lopez alecio (Modesto) 2:01

Vaea Salt (Sacramento City) FALL Nelson Ramirez (Cerritos) 6:52

Almazbekov Abdymanap (Chabot) FALL Jakar Carter (Palomar) 1:47

Angel Cervantes (Bakersfield) DEC Juan Luquin (Fresno City) 9-7

285 Pounds

Julian Bilezikjian (Rio Hondo) DEC Aiden Riddleberger (Santa Rosa) 3-0

Kendrick Salcido (Sacramento City) MD Isaac Lopez (Mt. San Antonio) 11-0

Xavier Moran (Lemoore) FALL Sepehr Hojati (Sierra) 2:58

Javier Martinez (Fresno City) DEC Daniel Jacuinde (Lemoore) 5-2, TB1

Joseph Alaniz (Fresno City) FALL Alonzo Cardona (Victor Valley) 1:09

Bryce Meggers (Sierra) FALL Mustafa Farha (Palomar) 2:37

Cody Ruiz (Modesto) FALL Diego Flores (Cerritos) 1:08

Jonathan Garcia (Bakersfield) DEC Cesar Lopez (Lassen) 5-2