FCC Wrestlers Win Big
Rams Wrestlers Take State Title Along with Honors from the City of Fresno
Fresno City College’s wrestling team has repeated as state champions and collected a series of individual honors for its standout wrestlers and coaches.
On Dec. 8 and 9 in Stockton, the Rams won their second straight California Community College Athletic Association wrestling title – amassing 184 team points and locking up the title before the final team rounds even began. It’s the 10th consecutive year that FCC has finished in the top three in team scoring.
The team, which now holds a record 15 state titles, this year produced four individual champions in Brandon Bettancourt (125 pounds), Isaiah Perez (133 pounds), Aaron Mora (141 pounds) and Dylan Martinez (149 pounds).
Martinez, who defended his 2016 championship, was recognized as the state’s Outstanding Wrestler.
FCC’s Paul Keysaw was named the state Coach of the Year and the Rams’ George Moreno was named Assistant Coach of the Year. It’s the second year in a row and the 10th time overall that Keysaw has been recognized with that coaching honor (seven times at FCC and three at Moorpark College).
In addition, eight Rams’ wrestlers received 2017 All-American honors, including state champions Bettancourt, Perez, Mora and Martinez along with Abraham Del Toro (141 pounds), Conrad Lopez (157 pounds), Victor Vargas (165 pounds) and Marcus Macias (197 pounds).
Thursday (Dec. 14), the wrestling team – along with FCC’s state champion men’s and women’s soccer teams – was honored with a proclamation by the City of Fresno.
Fresno City has the state’s most dominant wrestling program in recent years. Since 2006, the team has won seven state championships (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2017) along with three runner-up finishes (2013, 2014 and 2015) and one third-place finish (2009). The program also has won the Team Dual State Championship 12 times, including this season.
With the individual state titles won this month, the Rams’ overall total now is 79 individual titles compared to the 59 won by second-place Cerritos College. This year, six FCC wrestlers appeared in championship rounds and the Rams won the first four weight classifications.
Runners-up in the state championship individual rounds included Rams’ wrestlers Lopez and Vargas. Macias finished third and Miguel Ruiz (174 pounds) and Casey Jones (285 pounds) finished fifth.