Dons men's wrestling opened up its 2023 season at the West Hills Invitational, getting a warmup before preparing to host the Santa Ana College Wrestling Tournament on September 30th. The team took nine wrestlers, including four returners this season. The returners are Edward Ramirez from the 2021 team, Makoa Shefte of the 2022 team, 2022 state qualifier Zeke Hueter, and 2019 state qualifier Joseph Nava. 

 

At 125 pounds, newcomer Logan Rubio faced top seeded Christopher Calderon of Mt San Antonio in the round of 16, losing by fall in the third period of the match. He would then be eliminated in the consolation bracket after losing 10-5 to Christian Espinoza. Representing the Dons at 133 pounds was Artemis Shmuel. He would face Jonathan Woods of Bakersfield, who placed the previous week at the Sacramento City tournament, losing by fall. Shmuel would be eliminated by fall in his consolation match by Abram Granados of Fresno City. 

 

Makoa would score the first win for the team, opening up his tournament with a 13-9 decision over Klay Browing of Sierra. He would then wrestle seeded Kimo Servino of Cerritos, being sent to the consolation bracket by fall. Makoa would then advance in the consolation bracket, first with a 12-3 majority decision over Adrian Magana of Mt SAC, then with a 5-3 decision over Bakersfield's Richard Martinez. His tournament ended by technical fall against Evan Roy of Victor Valley, being one win short of making the top 8 at the tournament.

 

The team fielded two wrestlers at 157 pounds, Zeke Hueter and Jose Lira. Lira would lose in the first round to Luciano Esoldo of Victor Valley by a score of 14-6. His tournament would end in the consolation round after being pinned by Talan Lomeli of Shasta. Building on his experience from the previous season, Hueter would open the tournament strong with a first period fall over Bryan Fraser of Chabot. He would then advance to the quarters after a close decision score of 7-4 against Gavin Ibarra of Mt SAC. Hueter would be more dominant in his next two matches: a fall in the quarterfinals and an 11-1 decision in the semi-finals. In the finals, Hueter would wrestle top ranked Caolite Drury, who finished Hueter with a quick 30 second pin. Hueter will have the chance to rematch at the upcoming Santa Ana tournament. 

 

Edward Ramirez represented the team at 165 pounds after taking a redshirt year. His first match in two years resulted in a 20-7 majority decision over Cael Garriott of Cerritos. In the round of 16 match, Ramirez would wrestle unattached wrestler Maks Sherstnev. The match would be controversial after Sherstnev executed a throw against Ramirez, and the official calling an early pin to send Ramirez to the consolation bracket. Ramirez would battle his way back through the consolation bracket to get to the consolation semi-finals. This included two tech-fall and two decision wins. Ramirez would be forced to default out of the tournament due to the six match a day rule, settling for dual sixth place with his opponent while finishing the tournament with a 5-1 record.

 

At 174 pounds, Andres Carrillo gave the team bonus points by getting a first-round fall. He would run into a challenge in his second match, losing 12-3 to Andrew Hamant of Sacramento City. His tournament would end in the consolation match after losing to Lassen's Christoph Rubalcava by a score of 16-8. Dylan Avila at heavyweight would have a close first match in the round of 32, losing 4-1 to Seth Siebert of Bakersfield. In the consolation round, Dylan would finish the tournament with a 3-1 loss.

 

Joseph Nava would be the other heavyweight wrestler for Santa Ana, competing in his first season since the 2019 CCCAA state tournament. Intent on making his presence known, Nava would cruise through the first two rounds of the tournament by pinning both of his opponents in the first periods of the matches. He would have a stronger opponent in Dib Sawaya of Mt SAC in the quarterfinals, executing quick single leg attacks to take the match 9-4. Nava then had a strong win over Kobe Pablo of Cerritos with a majority decision win of 10-2 to advance to the finals. Nava met his first true challenge in Owen Firm of Victor Valley, unable to overcome the defense of Firm after losing 9-8 in the closing seconds of the match.

 

The team overall had three placers: Zeke Hueter (157) and Joseph Nava (285) both took 2nd, while Edward Ramirez (165) shared 6^th place. Overall, Santa Ana finished 9^th place with team scores. The Dons will be eyeing rematches and upsets to be made for their host tournament on September 30th.