Posted: Dec 03, 2022
Written by John Salzer
The Santa Ana College Wrestling team competed against nine other schools at the CCCAA Southern Regional tournament for trying to qualify for state. At the end of the day, five wrestlers medaled in the top six of their weight classes, with a sixth Dons wrestler qualifying to the state tournament after being selected as an alternate. Due to rule changes this season, each region gets to qualify the top 8 placers to the CCCAA state tournament. Ezekiel Hueter at 149 pounds and Jonathan Aldana at 157 pounds took 4th place, while Sergio Gutierrez at 174 pounds and Ruben Morfin at 197 pounds took 5th place in their weight classes. Damien Lopez at 125 pounds finished 6th place, while Nathan Ramirez at 133 pounds was selected as an alternate for the weight class after taking 9th place in the wrestle back competition. Overall, the team's collective efforts landed them in a 7th place finish, their best placing at a top tier tournament for the season, with the state tournament being all that remains.
At 125 pounds, Damien Lopez was seeded 6th for his season record, and lost a close match in the round of 16 by a score of 15-10 to be sent to the consolation bracket. He would fight his way back in the first consolation to win by majority decision 17-7, before facing Cameron Fernando of Moorpark in the crucial consolation round to qualify for state. Having faced Fernando at the ELAC Brawl, Damien improved upon his decision win two weeks earlier to defeat Fernando by a technical fall 20-4 and earn his ticket to the state tournament. Looking to improve his seeding, Lopez was able to win by majority decision 18-4 over Gabe Rivera of Cuesta before falling to number 2 seed Alexis Tellez of Rio Hondo in the consolation semi-finals. He would finish the day with a loss to Dylan Atherton of Rio Hondo after Atherton successfully executed a throw to pin Lopez in the 5th place match.
Branden Huynh was one of two 133-pound wrestlers competing for the Dons, facing number four seed Devin Martinez of Rio Hondo and was defeated by pin in the first period of the match. He would have a chance in the consolation round to move forward in the bracket, keeping pace with opponent Aiden Thome of East LA in the first period. But a near fall point score by Thome would prove too much for Huynh to catch enough ground in the third period, with Huynh's season ending by a score of 17-11. Nathan Ramirez was the second 133-pound wrestler for Santa Ana, matched against number two seed Anthony Pererya of Cerritos in the quarterfinals, losing by first period pin. He would get a buy into the second consolation round of the bracket but was defeated by Trevor Bass of Victor Valley with a 7-2 decision. Ramirez was far enough in the bracket to still be allowed to wrestle for 9th place, with his first match in that bracket being a win against Aiden Thome of East LA who had defeated teammate Huynh. Ramirez exerted dominance throughout the match before finishing with a first period pin to advance to the 9th place match. There he would face CJ Howard of Palomar, their first meeting of the season. Ramirez would stay on the offensive and also was able to score two reversals in the second and third periods of the match, eventually winning by a score of 8-3. He would not be able to challenge for true 8th place because the aforementioned Trevor Bass finished 8th, but Ramirez would later be selected as an alternate for the state because the Northern Regional tournament only had up to seven wrestlers.
Makoa Shefte represented Santa Ana at 141 pounds. In the round of 16 match, he was defeated by technical fall score of 18-3 by Ethan Irizarry of East LA. He would receive a bye into the second round of consolation but would be defeated by Dustin Riquelme of Palomar with a head and arm throw to fall in the closing seconds of the match. Like teammate Ramirez, Shefte was far enough into the bracket to try to wrestle for 9th place. He would wrestle against Richard Martinez of Bakersfield in the round of 12 match, with the first period being scoreless. Makoa would score the first point of the match with an escape in the second period but would be taken by Martinez before escaping again to tie the match 2-2 going into the last period. Martinez would earn his escape point to take a one point lead, and Shefte could not build an offensive to score on his opponent as the match would end his season with a 3-2 decision.
Zeke Hueter would come into the tournament as a 6th seed at 149 pounds, getting a bye in the round of 16 to face Aiden Hansen of Moorpark in the quarterfinals. Having not wrestled before, Hansen would execute two successful four-point tilts in the second period before Hueter could get an escape point to trail 8-1 going into the third period. Not able to score any more points after that, Hueter would be sent into the consolation bracket. Hueter would need to win the next match to guarantee his spot at the state meet, cruising through with a first period fall over Erinn Jackson of Moorpark. He would then have a more challenging match in the next round, facing James Juarez of Bakersfield. Hueter would choose down in the second period of after a scoreless first period, able to get an escape point to take the lead. A takedown by Juarez followed by another escape from Hueter would tie the match 2-2 for the third period. Hoping to take the lead, Juarez would choose the bottom position with the intent on scoring an escape. Hueter would successfully get a four-point nearfall and ride out Juarez for the remainder of the match to win by a score of 6-2 and advance to the consolation semi-finals. The next match would not last long as Hueter scored an opening takedown and made quick work to a pin against Palomar's Dorian Parker to set up a rematch with Moorpark's Aiden Hansen in the 3rd place match. Hansen would build his momentum against Hueter however, able to score a series of near-fall points and defeating Hueter by a technical fall score of 19-4.
Jonathan Aldana at 157 pounds would match against JJ Gutierrez of Palomar in the first round, allowing two takedowns and scoring two escapes to trail in the second period 4-2. Aldana would get an escape to close the gap to 4-3 but would not be able to score anymore after that, losing by 4-3 and having to wrestle in the consolation bracket. After a consolation first round bye, Aldana would earn his state trip by defeating Henry Catalan of Cuesta with a majority decision score of 14-2. The next round would see an ELAC Brawl rematch against Derrick Meza of Rio Hondo. Aldana would turn up the heat in this match with a dominant result, scoring two takedowns in the second period before finishing the match with a fall at 4 minutes and 53 seconds. The consolation semi-finals match would see Aldana paired with Cael Garriott of Cerritos, where they would trade three sets of takedowns and reversals in what would be a 6-6 tie. Aldana would also have three escape points which allowed him to win the match by a score of 9-6 and advance to the 3rd place match. Aldana's last match of the day would be against number four seed Trevor Thompson of Cerritos. Trevor would prove why he would be seeded 4th, scoring more takedowns against Aldana and riding him out in the third period to earn a riding time point, winning the match over Aldana by a score of 11-5. This would still earn Aldana a 4th place finish and a favorable seeding for the state tournament.
Sergio Gutierrez would wrestle at 174 pounds for the first time this season. In the round of 16 match, he would easily dispatch Landen DeGennaro of Moorpark by a score of 11-0 before facing the number one seed Stone Robledo of Cerritos in the quarterfinals. Robledo would initiate a head and arm throw to catch Gutierrez on his back, ending the match in a fall. Gutierrez would land on the side of the bracket that allowed him to get a bye into the third round of consolation, wrestling against Anthony Hidalgo of Rio Hondo. Hidalgo would score the first takedown of the match, but Sergio would rebound with an escape and takedown to lead 3-2 going into the second period. This period would prove crucial as even though Gutierrez would not score any points, he would ride Hidalgo out for the entire period, not allowing his opponent to score either. Sergio would then take a 4-2 with an escape in the third period, but Hidalgo would tie the match with a takedown shortly after. Sergio would respond quickly enough with an escape point, preserving his riding time and evading further takedown attempts by Hidalgo to win the match 6-4. In the consolation semi-finals, he would not be able to against Riley Lowery of Cuesta, who would prove the more dominant wrestler and give Gutierrez the loss by a 5-0 score. Sergio would then earn the 5th place medal by his next opponent injury defaulting in the placing round.
At 197 pounds, Ruben Morfin would start the day already qualified for the state tournament by virtue of there only being seven wrestlers in the bracket, with the top eight qualifying. He would want to improve his placing, and his first opponent of the day would be Armando Medrano of Bakersfield. Morfin would take a 1-0 lead in the second period with an escape, while Medrano would return the favor in the third period to tie the score 1-1. It would be a takedown by Medrano that would decide the match, who would defeat Morfin by a score of 3-2, knocking Morfin down to the consolation bracket. A bye in the consolation bracket would give Morfin the opportunity to wrestle in the consolation semi-finals against Devin Peries of East LA. Peries would be the more powerful wrestler, leading 8-3 before pinning Morfin with 30 seconds left in the match. For the Dons wrestling team's final match of the day, Izcali would wrestle against Jesus Rodriguez of Palomar. He would find himself in a hole after getting caught in a head and arm throw and being behind 6-0 before managing to escape. A lateral throw by Morfin would end the match in his favor for the reversal fall, earning the fifth-place medal and making him the fifth medalist for the team.
The six Dons wrestlers will now train to face the other twenty teams from the North and South at the state tournament hosted by West Hills Lemoore this coming weekend.
