Gutierrez Places 6th to Lead Dons in State Championships
Sergio Gutierrez finished 6th in the 174 pound bracket while SAC Wrestling placed 17th as a team at the 2022 State Wrestling Championships.
LEMOORE, Calif. - Sergio Gutierrez was the lone wrestler to medal for the Santa Ana College Wrestling team at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Wrestling State Championships.
Following a 5-2 loss to No. 9 Benicio Martinez from Sacramento City in the opening round of day one, the freshman from Tustin advanced through the consolation bracket to place sixth at 174 pounds.
In his second bout, he earned a 17-2 technical fall to move on to the next round where knocked off No. 10 Steven Ceja with a fall at the 2:28 mark.
Gutierrez started day two with a 14-6 upset win over No. 6 seeded Jacob Turner of Modesto. But a 7-5 loss to No. 1 Luke Combs sent him to the fifth place match where he fell to Cerritos' Stone Roblebo, cementing his sixth place finish.
The Dons sent five more wrestlers to state, including Ezekiel Hueter (149lbs), Jonathan Aldana (157lbs), Ruben Morfin (197lbs), Nathan Ramirez (133lbs) and Damien Lopez (125lbs).
Hueter defeated No. 15 Philip Arroyo in the first round on Friday to advance to the quarter-finals where he faced No. 7 James Juarez of Bakersfield. Hueter battled but was narrowly beaten out by a score of 8-6. On day two, he ended his tournament run with a 10-6 loss to No. 9 Jacob Benson of Shasta.
Following a 5-3 loss to No. 6 Willy Lamacchia, Aldana picked up an 8-3 win over No. 14 Carlos Martinez in the consolation bracket. Unfortunately, he ended his run after dropping his next bout to No. 5 Trevor Thompson by fall.
Ruben Morfin dropped his first bout by a score of 8-5 before bouncing back in the first round of consultation with an 8-0 win over No. 16 Diego Hernandez of Skyline. In the next round, Morfin was competitive but ultimately fell to No. 15 Nate Kendricks of Mt. SAC to finish his season.
Nathan Ramirez was matched up against No. 3 David Saenz of Mt. SAC and was defeated by fall at the 2:02 mark. The freshman wrapped up his time at state with a 10-3 loss to Sierra's No. 6 seeded Liam Nelson.
Although Damien Lopez qualified for the state tournament, the sophomore out of Santa Ana was held out due to injury.
The Dons placed 17th as a team with 14 points to cap the 2022 season.
