Wrestling: Ramos, Alcobendas lead Rio Hondo to ninth at SAC tourney

Freshman Andrew Ramos finished second individually while freshman Jacob Alcobendas was fourth to help lead the Rio Hondo College wrestling team to a ninth-place team finish at the Santa Ana College Tournament on Saturday. As a squad, the Roadrunners totaled 34 points to finish in a tie with West Hills College.

Competing at the 197-poind division, Ramos reached the championship final after picking up wins over teammate Raphael Madrigal (18-2, technical fall) in the opening round, an 11-4 decision vs. Angel Barajas of Cerritos in the quarterfinals, and a narrow 4-1 victory against Angel Alcantar from Mt. San Antonio in the semifinals.

Ramos, making his second consecutive appearance in a tournament final, came up short in a 5-1 loss to Fresno City College's Kalvin Stuckey to earn his second runner-up finish of the season.

Alcobendas went 4-2 at the tourney to earn a fourth-place finish. He opened with an 8-4 victory over Bakersfield's Jacob Mattson before suffering a 10-6 loss to Cerritos' Kenneth Kirk in the quarterfinals that dropped him to the consolation bracket.

But in the lower bracket, Alcobendas reached the consolation final with wins over Mt. SAC's Adam Padilla (10-4) Ruben Arreola of West Hills (13-4), and Brandon Tierney of Santa Ana (9-7). In the third-place final, Alcobendas faced Kirk once again and suffered the same outcome. Kirk took the win by fall at the 4:55 mark.

Rio Hondo head coach Mike Tellez was pleased with his team's effort in Santa Ana.

"This is considered one of the toughest tournaments in the state," he said.

The Roadrunners return to the mat on Wednesday (Oct. 5) when they travel to East Los Angeles College for a 7 p.m. dual meet against the Huskies.