Posted: Dec 14, 2024
At the 3C2A State Championships, which took place at Lemoore College, the Cerritos College wrestling team advanced a pair of wrestlers to the championships of their respective weights, while the team took fifth place overall. The Falcons finished with 79.5 team points and were led by the duo of sophomores Yoshiya Funakoshi (Calvary Chapel HS/Cal Baptist University) at 141 pounds and 174-pound Tyler Hanna (South Torrance HS/Cal State Bakersfield).
Both advanced to the championships of their weights, but came up short in their bid for a title.
In one of the most controversial matches of the weekend, Hanna, who was the #1-seed from Southern California, took on Fresno City College's Jake Prudek, the #1-seed from Northern California. It appeared that Hanna had recorded a three-point takedown at the end of the first period, but officials overruled the call and stated it came after the period had ended. Then, in the second period, Hanna was once again denied a takedown, as officials ruled that it came after the two wrestlers were completely off the mat. With the match tied at 1-1 in the third period, Prudek registered the lone takedown of the match with 35 seconds left and handed Hanna his lone loss of the season, 4-2.
Hanna, who won the Southern California Championship the week prior, opened the day with a 5-2 win over Chabot College's Fazal Mohammad that propelled him to the finals. In that match, Hanna broke a scoreless match in the second period with a three-point takedown with 1:26 left in the period after starting on the bottom and opened a 4-0 lead. They both traded escape points, while Hanna closed out the scoring with a riding time point.
The other Falcon in the finals, Funakoshi, who was the #2-seed from Southern California, opened the second day of the state championships with a 13-4 major decision over Chris Guerrero of Victor Valley College, who had one of the bigger upsets of the tournament. The #3-seed from SoCal defeated #1-seeded Abraham Cerda of Fresno City College in the quarterfinals, which put him up against Funakoshi. The win by Funakoshi advanced him to the finals against Diego Peraza of Palomar College for a rematch of the Southern California Championship tilt. For the second time in as many weekends, Peraza was able to take down Funakoshi four times and posted a 12-7 victory, which prevented the Falcon from ending his Cerritos season with a win. In the SoCal Championship match, Peraza came away with a 13-7 victory over Funakoshi.
Also competing on the second day of the championships included freshman 184-pound Farzad Hashimi (El Dorado HS), the #3-seed from SoCal, who reached the semifinals, but settled for fifth place. He opened the day with a loss to Roman Loya by pin in 1:45 of his semifinal match and then dropped a 20-6 setback at the hands of Ivan Natceli of Palomar in the consolation rounds. Hashimi capped off the tournament by defeating the #4-seed from Southern California Robert Felipe of Lemoore College, 6-2 for fifth place. After a scoreless first period, Hashimi recorded a four-point near fall with 12 seconds left in the second period and held off Felipe in the third period for the win.
The second entry in the weight class for the Falcons was #7-seeded sophomore Ben Setum (Pacifica HS), who came in eighth place. He also suffered a loss to Natceli in the consolation round and then was pinned in 50 seconds by the #2-seed from NorCal Adrian Perez Pulido of Modesto College in the seventh place match.
At 157 pounds, freshman Nicholas Pham (Westminster HS) battled back in his first match of the day to defeat the #5-seed from Northern California Caden Diamond of Sacramento City College. Trailing 7-0 after the first period, Pham was able to register a takedown, followed by a four-point near fall in the final 30 seconds of the second period and was tied 8-8 heading into the final period. Diamond took a quick 9-8 lead after an escape, but Pham responded quickly on a takedown with 1:27 remaining in the match. Knowing he would be giving up a point in riding time, Pham maintained control of Diamond for the remainder of the period to earn the one-point win. However, that match was followed by a pair of losses, which put Pham in sixth place overall. In the fifth place match against Grant Eklund of Cuesta College, Pham trailed, 6-0 after the first two periods. Looking for another stunning comeback, Pham picked up three quick points to start the third period, and was awarded two more points on stalling calls against Eklund. But time ran out for Pham and dropped a 7-5 decision.
The final Falcon to place in the tournament was freshman 125-pound Jesse Hernandez (Santa Fe HS), who started as the #2-seed from Southern California. In the consolation round on the second day, Hernandez was defeated, 15-1 by Zane Cerda, the #1-seed from Fresno City College and then was pinned in 2:21 in the seventh place match by Derek Ruffin of Santa Rosa in the seventh place match.
CERRITOS COLLEGE WRESTLERS AT 3C2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
125 Pounds - Jesse Hernandez - 8th Place
Both advanced to the championships of their weights, but came up short in their bid for a title.
In one of the most controversial matches of the weekend, Hanna, who was the #1-seed from Southern California, took on Fresno City College's Jake Prudek, the #1-seed from Northern California. It appeared that Hanna had recorded a three-point takedown at the end of the first period, but officials overruled the call and stated it came after the period had ended. Then, in the second period, Hanna was once again denied a takedown, as officials ruled that it came after the two wrestlers were completely off the mat. With the match tied at 1-1 in the third period, Prudek registered the lone takedown of the match with 35 seconds left and handed Hanna his lone loss of the season, 4-2.
Hanna, who won the Southern California Championship the week prior, opened the day with a 5-2 win over Chabot College's Fazal Mohammad that propelled him to the finals. In that match, Hanna broke a scoreless match in the second period with a three-point takedown with 1:26 left in the period after starting on the bottom and opened a 4-0 lead. They both traded escape points, while Hanna closed out the scoring with a riding time point.
The other Falcon in the finals, Funakoshi, who was the #2-seed from Southern California, opened the second day of the state championships with a 13-4 major decision over Chris Guerrero of Victor Valley College, who had one of the bigger upsets of the tournament. The #3-seed from SoCal defeated #1-seeded Abraham Cerda of Fresno City College in the quarterfinals, which put him up against Funakoshi. The win by Funakoshi advanced him to the finals against Diego Peraza of Palomar College for a rematch of the Southern California Championship tilt. For the second time in as many weekends, Peraza was able to take down Funakoshi four times and posted a 12-7 victory, which prevented the Falcon from ending his Cerritos season with a win. In the SoCal Championship match, Peraza came away with a 13-7 victory over Funakoshi.
Also competing on the second day of the championships included freshman 184-pound Farzad Hashimi (El Dorado HS), the #3-seed from SoCal, who reached the semifinals, but settled for fifth place. He opened the day with a loss to Roman Loya by pin in 1:45 of his semifinal match and then dropped a 20-6 setback at the hands of Ivan Natceli of Palomar in the consolation rounds. Hashimi capped off the tournament by defeating the #4-seed from Southern California Robert Felipe of Lemoore College, 6-2 for fifth place. After a scoreless first period, Hashimi recorded a four-point near fall with 12 seconds left in the second period and held off Felipe in the third period for the win.
The second entry in the weight class for the Falcons was #7-seeded sophomore Ben Setum (Pacifica HS), who came in eighth place. He also suffered a loss to Natceli in the consolation round and then was pinned in 50 seconds by the #2-seed from NorCal Adrian Perez Pulido of Modesto College in the seventh place match.
At 157 pounds, freshman Nicholas Pham (Westminster HS) battled back in his first match of the day to defeat the #5-seed from Northern California Caden Diamond of Sacramento City College. Trailing 7-0 after the first period, Pham was able to register a takedown, followed by a four-point near fall in the final 30 seconds of the second period and was tied 8-8 heading into the final period. Diamond took a quick 9-8 lead after an escape, but Pham responded quickly on a takedown with 1:27 remaining in the match. Knowing he would be giving up a point in riding time, Pham maintained control of Diamond for the remainder of the period to earn the one-point win. However, that match was followed by a pair of losses, which put Pham in sixth place overall. In the fifth place match against Grant Eklund of Cuesta College, Pham trailed, 6-0 after the first two periods. Looking for another stunning comeback, Pham picked up three quick points to start the third period, and was awarded two more points on stalling calls against Eklund. But time ran out for Pham and dropped a 7-5 decision.
The final Falcon to place in the tournament was freshman 125-pound Jesse Hernandez (Santa Fe HS), who started as the #2-seed from Southern California. In the consolation round on the second day, Hernandez was defeated, 15-1 by Zane Cerda, the #1-seed from Fresno City College and then was pinned in 2:21 in the seventh place match by Derek Ruffin of Santa Rosa in the seventh place match.
CERRITOS COLLEGE WRESTLERS AT 3C2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
125 Pounds - Jesse Hernandez - 8th Place
141 pounds - Yoshiya Funakoshi - 2nd Place (All-American)
157 Pounds - Nicholas Pham - 6th Place
174 Pounds - Tyler Hanna - 2nd Place (All-American)
157 Pounds - Nicholas Pham - 6th Place
174 Pounds - Tyler Hanna - 2nd Place (All-American)
184 Pounds - Farzad Hashimi - 5th Place
184 Pounds - Ben Setum - 8th Place
