Los Angeles, CA. – Led by five first place finishers and three second place finishes, the Fresno City wrestling team compiled enough points to win the West Hills tournament on Saturday. The Rams finished with 245.5 points and held off second place Cerritos College, who had 175.5 points and third place Sacramento City with 110 points.
Winning individual titles were sophomore Daniel Ruiz (Madera HS) 149-pounds, sophomore Augustine Garcia (Madera HS) at 165-pounds, freshman Arturo Rivas (Firebaugh) at 174-pounds, freshman Jack Kilner (Granada HS) at 195-pounds and 285-pound sophomore Armando Barcenos (Hanford HS). Kilner was awarded the Outstanding Upper weight wrestler award for his brilliant performance in the tournament.
In the four matches for Kilner, he ended each of them via a major decision before the last whistle blew. After winning 16-0 over Randy Nemendez of Lassen College, Kilner followed with a 9-0 decision over Hamzah Al-Saudi of Cerritos College. In the semifinals, Kilner earned the 13-2 major decision over No. 4 seed Andy Voong of Rio Hondo to advance to the championship match. In the championship match, Kilner defeated Tony Rogers of Lassen College 15-0 to win his second consecutive tournament title of the season.
2018 CCAA state champion Daniel Ruiz went 4-0 in the tournament while earning a technical fall and two regular decision wins. His closest match occurred in the quarterfinal round as he won 6-3 over Cerritos College Vante Moore. In the championship bout, teammate Chris Gaxiola opted to forfeit to Ruiz.
Top-seed Augustine Garcia won his four matches, which included a fall in 2:29 over Kyle Berry of Victor Valley College in his opening match, followed by a 16-3 major decision over Alex Thomburg of Sacramento City College. In the semifinals, Garcia recorded a 15-4 major decision over Ryan Ojeda of Sierra College and then a 10-6 win over No. 7 seed Wetzel Hill of Mt. San Antonio College 10-6.
Freshman Arturo Rivas made the best of his debut for the Rams as he won the 174-weight class by blanking his first two opponents 15-0 and 10-0. In the semifinal round, Rivas won 12-5 over No. 3 seed Devyn Kreb of Sierra College to advance to the championship round. In the championship match, Rivas won the tournament by earning a 4-2 win over No. 4 seed Chase Miles of Sacramento City College.
The last champion for the Rams, Armando Barcenas, had a pair of pins and a major decision win in his first three matches to reach the finals. He pinned both David Aragon of Cerritos College in 2:09 and Leo Molina in 13 seconds before a 14-2 major decision win over Alex Mosqueda of Sierra College. Facing No. 3 seed Randy Arriaga of Cerritos College, Barcenas earned the title with a 5-2 decision.
Freshman Ramiro Castillo (Central HS) advanced to the finals at 125-pounds, but was defeated, 10-5 by No. 4 seed Jonathan Prata of Cerritos College. In the early rounds, Castillo earned a fall and two major decision wins to reach the championship match.
At 149-pounds, freshman Chris Gaxiola (Buchanan HS) earned a 16-4 win in his first match before earning his second major decision win over Christian Espinoza of Rio Hondo to advance to the semifinal round. In the semifinal round, Gaxiola won a hard-fought 6-3 win over Lupe Ayon of West Hills College that sent him to the championship match where he forfeited to fellow teammate Daniel Ruiz.
The last finalists for the Rams was freshman Daniel Long (Dinuba HS) at 184-pounds. Long looked flawless in the early rounds as he pinned his first two opponents and blanket Melad Ayyoub of Mt. San Antonio College 6-0. In the championship match, he lost a tough 2-0 match to top seed Stephen Martin of Skyline College.