Santa Ana Wrestling Battles Cerritos in Conference Dual, Falls 34-17
The Santa Ana Wrestling team impressed early in Wednesday's dual against Cerritos but ultimately fell 34-17.
SANTA ANA, Calif - The Santa Ana Wrestling team took on Cerritos College in an SCWA Southwest dual on Wednesday night. The Dons went up 17-16 after seven bouts, but forfeited the final three weight classes due to injury to fall by a score of 34-17.
In the 125 pound match, Damien Lopez put Santa Ana on the board as he defeated his counterpart 10-1. Lopez was in control for the majority of the three rounds, as he recorded four takedowns and a reversal to give the Dons four team points.
The 133 pound class was a battle between two ranked opponents as SAC's No. 8 ranked Jose Mata faced off against No. 2 ranked Josh Mendoza.
Right out of the gate, the two wrestlers put pressure on each other as they both collected two points on a takedown and a quick reversal. But shortly after, Mata took control with an escape followed by a take down and a two point nearfall to go up 7-2.
Mata managed to hold the high ranked Falcon down over the next two periods to come up with a big win, giving Santa Ana a 7-0 lead.
Cerritos got on the board in the next round as Roland Dominguez defeated Santa Ana's Zayn Patel with a fall at 2:08 in the first period to bring the score to 7-6.
But the Dons responded right away as Salvador Munoz dominated his opponent and recorded a fall with just second remaining in the first period to push the SAC lead up to 13-7.
In the next round, Saeed Perez continued the rally for the Dons as he scored points in each round to win 11-0, giving Santa Ana its last points of the night.
From there, it was all Cerritos as they won at 165 and 174 pounds, followed by three forfeits to end the night.
Santa Ana will compete in the East LA Brawls on Saturday, November 20th before preparing for postseason starting with the CCCAA State Dual Championships on November 30th.
