Sophomore James Schmidt capped a 3-0 weekend with a 13-4 major decision over Fresno City College's Conrad Lopez to bring home to Rio Hondo the 157-pound CCCAA State Championship.
If there was a Fresno City killer over the weekend, it was Schmidt. After he defeated Northern California champion Josh McMillon of Fresno in the semifinals, Schmidt capped off his season with a convincing win over Lopez, who defeated Southern California champion Wyatt Gerl (Cerritos) in the other semifinal.
In the final, It was a close 2-2 match in the second period, when Schmidt recorded a pair of takedowns to carry a 6-3 lead into the third period. After an escape point to start the third period, Schmidt also received a point when Lopez was penalized for stalling. Another takedown with 1:01 left sealed the win.
Joining Schmidt at the State Championships was Khalil Howard at 149 pounds. He finished in seventh place after pinning Carlos Vasquez of San Joaquin Delta to close out his weekend.
The duo totaled 33.5 points for Rio Hondo to finish in 11th place in the final team standings.
