Vargas Wins First State Championship for SAC Wrestling Since 2012
Luis Vargas battled his way through the 157 pound bracket at the 2018 CCCAA State Wrestling Championships.
CERRITOS, Calif. – Luis Vargas battled his way through the 157 pound bracket at the 2018 CCCAA State Wrestling Championships to become the first individual champion for Santa Ana College since 2012.
Vargas, a sophomore from Willow Glen High (San Jose, CA), started the day with a matchup against Conrad Lopez (Fresno City) in the semifinals. After five minutes, Vargas earned the victory by fall to guarantee a top two finish, advancing to the finals.
In the finals he took on the No. 1 seed in the north, Ruben Garcia (Fresno City), in a winner takes all match. Vargas jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two takedowns in the second period but then gave a couple back as Garcia responded with a quick reversal to make it 4-2 going to the third and final period. It was all Vargas from that point on, as he ended the night with a 4-0 run to defeat Garcia 8-2 to take the top spot on the podium.
Though Vargas was the only state champion for Santa Ana, Oliver Rivero and Joshua Fuentes - Norikiyo had impressive outings and finished in the top six of their weight classes.
Rivero (Godinez High) fell to the top seed Raul Ortiz in the semifinals on Saturday but went undefeated the rest of the way to take third place in the 133 division, becoming an All-American for the first time in his SAC career.
Fuentes – Norikiyo (Laguna Hills High) placed sixth overall after advancing to the semifinals and then falling the eventual champion in Josh Brown (Cerritos) and the third place finisher in Ezra Clark (Skyline).
As a team, Santa Ana placed seventh out of 20 teams with 52.5 points. It's the second consecutive seventh place finish in the state for the Dons.
