The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s wrestling team finished fourth at the CCCAA Norcal Regional Championships at Haehl Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 7.
SRJC played host to Skyline College, San Joaquin Delta College, Lassen College, Sierra College, Sacramento City College, Chabot College, Fresno City College, Shasta College, College of the Redwoods and Modesto Community College.
Though the wrestlers competed to qualify as individuals, the Bear Cubs placed fourth overall in the regional championship. 11 wrestlers placed on Saturday, setting a program record for the most athletes to qualify for the state championship, according to head coach Fred Duerr.
Among the athletes to qualify for the state championship was sophomore Rayhan Jaleel (197). Jaleel put in work at the tournament going 4-0, a cherry on top of an already impressive season going 26-0.
After placing second in last year’s state championship, Jaleel says he focused hard over the summer to be in the best condition possible for his sophomore season with the Bear Cubs.
“Honestly, this offseason I did a lot of conditioning, which was something I really lacked,” he said. “ I realized last season that my footwork was lazy and this season I feel like it has been so much cleaner.”
Jaleel swept his opponents up quickly, annihilating Shasta College’s Garrison Palmer in the first round by tech fall, 16-0. He then took Modesto’s Erick Lopez Alecio down by fall and Sacramento City’s Vaea Salt by major decision, 20-7. In the final round, Jaleel won by injury default over Chabot’s Almazbekov Abdymanap after the first few scrambles when Abdymanap came up clutching his shoulder. He attempted a couple more scrambles before ultimately forfeiting.
Coach Duerr attributes Jaleel’s continued success to his ability to move from one match to the next without pause.
“I think when the moment comes he’s ready for it,” Duerr said. “He focuses on not letting the moment get too big. He’s really come out of his shell as a wrestler since last season. He stays sound and wrestles smart.”
Duerr stressed that while the wrestlers need to be physically strong, they also need to be equally mentally strong. “They gotta believe that they are deserving of the spot they are in and that they can compete with all the other incredible wrestlers out there,” he said.
Sophomore Zack Morgan (174) placed fifth in his bracket and said that having his family mat-side during his matches gave him much needed mental support and focus going into the day. After a bye in the first round, Morgan won his quarterfinal match by decision, 10-8.
After suffering a loss by tech fall in the semifinals and a fall in the consolation round, Morgan came up for redemption in the final match and won by decision over Sacramento City College’s Kelly Little, 13-6. Morgan is looking to make improvements in preparation for the state championship.
“We’re identifying some key mistakes in my matches this week so I’m definitely gonna be working on those things to prepare for the coming weekend,” he said.
The freshmen also came to compete, with six of the nine wrestlers who medaled being freshman.
Karmine Berndt (141) was a standout, going 4-2 in the tournament and placing fourth in his bracket. After winning by fall in the first round, he took his first loss to Fresno Community College’s Abraham Cerda by fall.
In consolation round 2, Berndt obliterated Lassen’s Alex Davidson by tech fall, 18-2. In the third round, he secured his third win of the day over Shasta’s Aceyn Meyer by decision, 6-4. He’d win his final match of the day in the semifinals over Modesto’s Abriel Padilla by fall before Chabot’s Azim Azimy won by decision in the finals.
Berndt managed to outperform even his own expectations.
“I did much better than I thought I was going to,” he said. “I just tried to keep my cool and not think about the upcoming matches too much. I had a lot of family there so they helped me a lot.”
The freshman class’ hard work all season impressed Coach Duerr, who looks forward to seeing how they progress going into their sophomore seasons.
The Bear Cubs will travel to Lemoore College for the CCCAA State Championship on Dec. 13-14 with the following athletes:
- Derek Ruffin (125), 6th place
- Erickson Edpao (133), 5th place
- Karmine Berndt (141), 4th place
- Ali Hamzia (141), 5th place
- Vicente Rodarte (149), 5th place
- Ikaika Madayag (157), 7th place
- Zack Morgan (174), 5th place
- Jesus Anguiano (184), 6th place
- Rayhan Jaleel (197), 1st place
- Joe Ellis (197), 6th place
- Aiden Riddleberger (285), 8th place
