The Rio Hondo College wrestling team took a break from dual meet action on Saturday to compete at the West Hills Invitational. The event at West Hills College Lemoore featured some of the state's top programs in action. The Roadrunners went on to finish in 10th place out of 16 teams, scoring 49 team points.
Leading the way for the Roadrunners was Sarah Zaragoza in the women's division. The sophomore bounce-back originally from Schurr High School brought home a gold medal in the women's 133-pound weight class.
On the men's side, sophomore Christian Espinoza was Rio Hondo's top finisher as he took third place overall at 149 pounds. He went 5-1 at the tourney, including four consecutive wins in the consolation bracket to close out the day. Espinoza, the No. 7 seed, won by injury default over No. 3-seed Guadalupe Ayon of West Hills in the consolation final.
Also placing for Rio Hondo was sophomore Andy Voong, taking sixth place at 197 pounds. Vong, seeded No. 4 in his weight class, won his first three matches to reach the semifinals. But he was edged 3-1 in the championship semis by Lassen's Tony Rogers and then was pinned in his consolation semifinal match to end the tourney.
Final team results: 1. Fresno City 242.5, 2. Cerritos 175.5, 3. Sacramento City 110, 4. Mt. San Antonio 105.5, 5. Sierra 104, 6. West Hills 93.5, 7. Lassen 78.5, 8. Bakersfield 78, 9. Modesto 75.5, 10. RIO HONDO 49, 11. Santa Rosa 46.5, 12. Skyline 30, 13. Victor Valley 25, 14. UNA 17, 15. Delta 15, 16. Chabot 7
Rio Hondo returns to tournament action next Saturday (Oct. 5) when the Roadrunners will compete at the Santa Ana Tournament.