FRESNO, CA.- No. 1 Fresno City holds a huge lead after day one of the 2019 CCCAA state championships. Head coach Paul Keysaw’s (NCAA Champion for Cal State Bakersfield) crew dominated the action inside the Fresno City gymnasium and is nearly 46 points in front of second-place Sacramento City.
Fresno City College is going into the tournament ranked #1 and is looking to make history. In the 14 years under Coach Keysaw, the Rams have won eight state championships, the last three in a row. They have come in second place three times. Should they win at home this year, they will make state history as no other team has won four in a row.
With a sizzling quarterfinal round in which it went 9-2, Fresno City leads the team race with 85.5 points while Sacramento City is in second with 40. Cerritos College sits in third place with 35.5. The Rams will have nine wrestlers competing in the semifinal round with the opportunity to advance to the championship round.
At 125-pounds, Mario Moreno earned his way to the semifinal round by putting a wrestling clinic on Keith Estrada (Bakersfield) and winning 16-2. He will face a familiar opponent in teammate Ramiro Castillo who took out the Southern Region runner-up Conner Diamond (Mt. Sac) 10-5.
Northern Region champion Louie Bravo advanced to the semifinal round by defeating Jose Mata (Santa Ana) via a 12-4 major decision. The match was 5-4 after the second period. However, Bravo earned an escape followed by a takedown and four-point near fall to seal the match and get the major decision.
Anthony Chavez worked his way to the semifinal round by defeating Bradley Chirino (Mt. Sac) 10-6 in the quarterfinal round. Chavez came back from an early 2-0 deficit with a furious reversal, near fall points and a takedown to rack up an 8-3 lead after the conclusion of the first period. Chavez earned a reversal in the second round to go up 10-3 after two. In the third period, Chirino got a reversal and rode Chavez the entire third period.
Chris Gaxiola earned a takedown in each of the periods to defeat Josue Aguilar (East Los Angeles) 8-3 and join his teammates in the semifinal round at 149-pounds.
At 157-pounds, the Rams got a huge boost from Josh McMillan as he was able to fend off Southern Region champion Larry Rodriguez (Cerritos) 4-1 and remain in the championship bracket. With the score being 1-1 in the third, McMillan took Rodriguez down with 30 seconds remaining on the match and rode him out to earn the win.
All-American Augustine Garcia put 21 points on the scoreboard to knockout Drake DeLaCruz (Cerritos) 21-5 to advance to the semifinal round. He will take on Darin Chick (Delta) in tomorrow’s session.
No. 1 seed Jack Kilner (197) continued his dominating run by picking up a second-round technical fall victory over Jordan Monroe and win 16-0. He will take on Southern Region runner-up Andy Voong (Rio Hondo).
Armando Barcenas worked his way into the semifinal round at 285-pounds by earning a takedown in the first overtime period over East L.A. College wrestler David Aranda. He will open up tomorrow’s session versus Juan Camacho (Cuesta).