State Wrestling Title
January 08, 2019 - 12:37 AM
(Norwalk, CA) The best match was saved for last at the 2018 CCCAA State Wrestling Championships
with Mt. SAC sophomore Cristian Ayala winning the 285 lbs. title in a triple-overtime thriller on Saturday (12/8), at Cerritos
College.
285 lbs. – Top seeded Cristian Ayala, was the third Mountie to gain All-American status, finished with a perfect 3-0 record.
The last championship match of the night was the only one to go into overtime and
quite an ending it was between the two top seeds from the North and the South. After
a scoreless first period, Lassen's Cole Mair won the flip for up or down positioning
in the second period, but deferred to the third. At the 1:39 mark, Ayala escaped for
the 1-0 lead which stood until the third period. Mair, who started in the down position
in the third period, returned the favor and also escaped and tied the match 1-1 with
1:43 left in regulation. Neither wrestler scored in the one minute sudden death period.
In the first of two 30 second overtime periods, Mair took a 2-1 lead after an escape
with 17 seconds left. With 17 seconds left in the second 30-second OT, Ayala made
the move of the night with a 2-point reversal to win the state title.
As a team, the Mounties finished fifth with 79 points, behind state champion Fresno
City (187), Sacramento City, 2nd (119.5), Palomar, 3rd (109) and fourth-place Cerritos (103.5). The Mounties advanced three wrestlers into
the championship round day on Sunday.
Mountie Adam Valdez advanced to the 149 pound championship, but lost in a close 6-5 decision. The third
Mt. SAC wrestler to advance to the championship round was freshman Miguel Gallardo who placed third in the 157 lbs. weight class. Gallardo, wrestled once on day one,
three times on day two and took third with a 7-1 decision.
The 2018 championships were the second year in a row that Mt. SAC has qualified 11
wrestlers in the state competition and Ayala was the eighth individual state titlist
under Coach David Rivera.
Follow Mt. SAC Wrestling on twitter @MtSACWrestling
Follow Mt. SAC Athletics on twitter @MtSAC_athletics or Facebook @Mountie.Athletics
For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at
909.274.4630.
