By John M. Sherrard
(Victorville, CA) After day one of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) wrestling state championships at Victor Valley College the Mounties find themselves in third place and five wrestlers advanced to the semifinals
The competition continues Saturday with the finals beginning at 7:00 pm.
Fifth-ranked Mt. SAC (66.5) is in third behind top-ranked Cerritos and No. 2 Fresno City College, who are tied for first with 84 points.
Ten of the 11 Mountie wrestlers won their first-round matches.
Leading the way for the Mounties in the semis is No. 2-ranked Reed South in the 174 lb. weight class.
Heading for a possible All-Mountie championship showdown at 141 lbs. are sophomores Kevin Kelly and Casper Sherow.
At 165 lbs. in the semis is freshman Kevin Hope and at 184 lbs. is freshman Barnabas Yi.
Top-ranked Joseph Dominguez at 149 lbs., who won a championship in last weeks' So Cal's, suffered a first-round setback in a close 4-3 decision. Dominguez came back and won his first consolation match, a pin at 6:22 of the third period.
In the first round of the 141 weight class, No. 4 seed Kelly, who placed fourth at the So Cal's, upset Fresno's top-ranked wrestler, 16-14, in a sudden victory in the quarterfinals. Kelly pinned his opponent at 4:44 of the second period in the first round. Kelly will face the state's second-ranked wrestler, Richard Pocock of Cerritos.
Sherow, who was third in the So Cal's, also pinned his first round opponent at :26 and won by decision in the quarterfinals, 11-5.
South, a sophomore who finished third at the So Cal's, received a bye in the first round and won by technical fall, 17-1, in the quarterfinals.
Hope, ranked fifth in the state at 165 lbs., won by decision in the first round, 10-4, and pinned his opponent at 2:19 of the second period in the quarterfinals.
Finally, Mt. SAC's Yi won his first round match, by a 10-4 decision and trailed late in the third period of the quarterfinals but scored multiple points to pull out a 13-7 victory.
At 125 lbs. freshman John Whisner won his opening-round match, 12-8, but fell in a consolation match by a 9-3 decision, while freshman Julian Melecio (133 lbs.) also won a first-round match by a pin but lost in the quarterfinals by a 9-7 decision. He then won his consolation match by a major decision, 14-4, to advance to within one win of a third place match.
At 157, freshman Apollo Santos won by a 10-6 decision and fell in the quarterfinals by a technical fall and lost in his consolation match.
Sophomore Angel Alcantar lost his first-round decision by the closest of margins, 3-2.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630