Mt. SAC Dominates to Repeat in 2024 3C2A Men’s Wrestling State Championship

LEMOORE, Calif. - Mt. San Antonio College completed a dominant season to become repeat champions as they ran away with the title at 2024 3C2A Men's Wrestling State Championship.

The Mounties, winners of three of the last four state championships, racked up 204 points as four members of their team became individual state champions while 11 of their 12 qualifiers placed in the top 7 of their brackets. 

After placing third last season, the Fresno City Rams finished runner-up with 138 team points. The Rams had two wrestlers become individual state champions and six place in the top six. 

Palomar College took the last team trophy home with a third place finish as they recorded 110 points. The Comets made a huge leap from last season, going from a seventh place finish with 56.5 team points to third place with two individual state champions. 

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

125lbs: Caden Hanover (Palomar) vs  Dakota Sanders (Redwoods)

Following a scoreless first period, Dakota Sanders chose the bottom in the second and escaped immediately to get one on the board. However, Caden Hanover responded with a takedown with 37 seconds left to take a 3-1 lead before Sanders got another point with an escape to end the period. 

An illegal hold against Sanders gave Hanover a 4-2 advantage to start the second. He improved that lead with a reversal at the 58 second mark, pushing lead to 4 at 6-2. 

Sanders was able to score one more escape but Hanover put the bout out of reach with another takedown with about 20 seconds, giving him a 9-3 win to become the first champion of the night.

133lbs: Mason Carrillo (Moorpark) vs Jason Saenz (Mt. SAC)

Both finalists fought off some initial shots but neither were able to get on the board in the first. But Jason Saenz earned the first point with an escape at the 1:39 mark in the second. 

The freshman from Mt. SAC added on with a takedown at the 35 second mark, giving him a 4-0 lead. An illegal hold against Mason Carrillo earned Saenz another point with a minute left, giving him a 5-0 shutout to become the 133 lb champion.

141lbs: Yoshia Funakoshi (Cerritos) vs Diego Peraza (Palomar)

In the 141 lb final, Diego Peraza opened the scoring with a takedown at the 2:17 mark in the first. But his opponent Yoshia Funakoshi escaped quickly, bringing the score to 3-1. Funakoshi was moments away from adding on to his score at the end of the first with either a takedown or a stalling call but the buzzer sounded and seemingly stopped his momentum.

Peraza picked up the aggression to start the second, adding six points with a couple takedowns while Funakoshi earned two points on an escape and a stalling call. 

The score to start the third was 9-4 in favor of Peraza and after a series of takedowns, escapes and stalling calls made for an exciting bout but it was he who came out on top to win by a score of 12-7. 

149lbs: Alireza Kaveh (Santa Ana) vs James Wright (Fresno City)

The excitement started late in the first round for the 149 lb bout as Alireza Kaveh closed with a takedown with just over 10 seconds left. He continued to be the more aggressive wrestler, getting two more on a reversal to begin the second to go up 5-0.

James Wright got on the board with an escape, making it 5-1 headed into the final period.

A quick escape gave Wright another but Kaveh countered with a takedown on a failed shot to go up 8-2. Wright picked up another escape but it wasn't enough to keep his undefeated season alive, as Kaveh took home the 149 lb title with a 9-3 victory. 

157lbs: Joe Anthony Perez (Palomar) vs Maxximus Martinez (Mt. SAC)

Neither wrestler was able to score in the first which led to Joe Anthony Perez jumping out with a 1-0 lead with an early escape in the second period. 

Maxximus Martinez made the decision to choose a neutral start to begin the third but earned his point thanks to a stalling call with just about 20 seconds left on the clock, pushing the bout to overtime. 

At the 1:05 mark in the period, Martinez finished with a takedown to take home the first individual state title for Mt. SAC of the night.

165lbs: Preston Scharf (Cuesta) vs Jack Estevez (Mt. SAC)

The 165 lb final started with an injury time out due to Jack Estevez getting his eye poked a second into the action. But it did not seem to faze him as he scored first with a takedown. Preston Scharf got on the board with an escape to make the score 3-1 after one period. 

Estevez extended his lead to 4-1 with an escape, which remained the score after two periods. 

Scharf cut into the lead with his own escape to begin the third but a takedown by Estevez with just about 50 seconds left in the third sealed it. The freshman standout went on to win by a score of 7-3. 

174lbs: Jake Prudek (Fresno City) vs Tyler Hanna (Cerritos)

Jake Pridek and Tyler Hanna put on a show in one of the most contested bouts of the night. In the first, 

Hanna thought he had a takedown at the horn but officials went to the monitor for the replay and reversed the call. 

Hanna stayed the course and picked up a point with an escape in the second. Another failed takedown attempt by the sophomore from Cerritos was challenged and stood, keeping the score just 1-0 headed to the third.

Prudek tied the score with an escape at the start of the period and then took the lead with a takedown about 35 second left on the clock.

An Injury timeout was then taken as Prudek began vomiting during a break of the action. After action resumed, Hanna scored on a stalling call but did not have enough time for the comeback, giving Prudek a controversial 4-2 win. 

184lbs: Frankie Stevenson (Victor Valley) vs Roman Loya (Mt. SAC) 

In the 184 lb match, Frankie Stevenson jumped out to a lead with a takedown but Roman Loya responded quickly with a reversal in an action packed first period. Stevenson earned another point with an escape to go up 4-2 going into the second. 

Loya capitalized on a bottom position to start the next period, getting two more points to tie the score at 4-4 with a reversal. However, Stevenson got out of his hold late in the second to take a 5-4 lead.

Stevenson held on as he picked up an important escape point to earn a 6-5 victory, taking the title for Victor Valley College.

197lbs: Chance Evans (Cuesta) vs Mo Talebi (Mt. SAC) 

Mo Talebi dominated 197 lb final with five takedowns and a pin with 1:13 on the clock in the second period to become the fourth individual state champion for the Mounties. 

The freshman was one of the most impressive wrestlers in the tournament, as he collected two falls, a technical fall and a win due to injury on his way to the title. 

285lbs: Joe Alaniz (Fresno City) vs Javier Martinez (Fresno City)

In a battle between two heavy weights from Fresno City,  it was Javier Martinez who came out on top. 

After a 0-0 first, Martinez worked his way up to take a one point lead. Fellow Ram, Joe Alaniz returned the favor with his own escape in the third.

The match was decided when Martinez countered and circled around after a Alaniz shot late in the third to take a 4-1 lead, securing the championship for the sophomore out of Dinuba.

(Cammie Lewis, CCCSIA)