Cuesta wins SEC Wrestling Tournament

By Tadzio Garcia

The Cuesta College Cougars, 9-6 overall, won the Southeast Wrestling Conference Tournament Nov. 15 at Gil Bishop Gymnasium at Bakersfield College.

Cuesta bested East Los Angeles College 28-21 and West Hills College, 30-13.

"Cuesta dominated the day, East LA did well, and my guys battled," said first-year Bakersfield Head Coach Brett Clark, who is coaching in his ninth year for the Renegades.

Bakersfield had a 15-11 lead against the Cougars after Vincent Gomez pinned John Sinclair of Cuesta, the state's No. 7-ranked wrestler in the 157-weight class division at 2:35.

Bakersfield , however, had two forfeits and Cuesta survived the Renegades and their vocal crowd, 32-21.

East Los Angeles took second place including wins against West Hills, 40-12, and Bakersfield, 36-14.

"It was our first winning day all year. The team peaked at the right time," said 19-year East LA Head Coach Ralph Valle.

East LA's Juan Soto (184 pounds) won all three matches by pin, including against No. 5 (184 pounds) Jack Robinett of Cuesta (2:30).

In other action, Bakersfield edged West Hills, 24-21.

The following are individual winners with state rankings in parenthesis.

All-Conference First Team

125 – Silverio Esparza, West Hills

133 – George Sakkis, Cuesta (No. 6)

141 – Conner Pollock, Cuesta (No. 2)

149 – Johnny Callas, Cuesta (No. 6) 

157 – Vicente Gomez, Bakersfield (HM*)

165 – Joseph Magdaleno-Hudson, East LA (No. 2)

174 – Amir Bakshsi, Cuesta, (No. 6)    

184 – Juan Soto, East LA (HM)

197 – Jack Murphy, Bakersfield (No. 1)

285 – Maury Lemons, East LA (HM)

Honorable Mentions

125 – Johnny Robles, East LA

131 – Arik Onsurez, Bakersfield

141 – Daniel Martinez, East LA

149 – Jonathan Mandujano, East LA

157 – John Sinclair, Cuesta (No. 7)

165 – Joe Else, Cuesta

174 – Adrian Herrera, East LA (No. 8/165 pounds) 

197 – Clayton Hartwell, Cuesta (No. 3)

285 – Jacob Hall, Bakersfield

*Honorable Mention