by Carlos Alvarez
The East Los Angeles College wrestling team traveled to Rio Hondo College and dominating 34-9 in an exhibition matchup last Wednesday.
In what was the crowd pleasing matchup of the evening, Husky Warmer Quevedo excelled in the heavyweight class.
“I was getting tossed around, but I used my speed and technique. I wanted it badly,” Quevedo said.
The crowd was amazed by his speed and great flexibility against his bigger and stronger opponent. Quevedo took his match 18-6.
“Quevedo comes in and works hard. He has a great attitude all the time,” said ELAC Head Coach Ralph Valle.
The Huskies took seven out of 10 matches, showing a huge improvement in technique.
“Every week we are getting stronger. Every weight class is improving,” said Husky team captain Hugo Perez.
The Huskies will have all week to prepare for the matches at Palomar College, taking place this Friday and Saturday.
“We wrestled well. I have great respect for Rio Hondo, our guys were just ready today. We came in here in great shape and we were technically sound in most of the matches,” Valle said.
Perez, wrestling at 125 pounds, used a variety of moves to tire his opponent getting a second period pin down in a match he was expected to win.
“I feel confident. I expect us to beat them by more points than (the) last match,” Perez said, during warm-ups.
With ELAC dominating as a team the individual performances of sophomores Omar Ochoa and Francisco Aceves struck a sour note.
“We have a long way to go, but we have two that should have won. They are better than they showed. When you’re sophomores they sometimes lose their focus, but we’ll work with them,” Valle said.
Ochoa wrestled in the 149 lbs. weight class and lost his match 5-3. Aceves forced an extra period, by getting a last-minute one point move, but lost 4-2 in the 184 lbs. weight class match-up.