Cerritos Makes It Four-Straight with 2026 Women's Wrestling Title

May 2, 2026

Fresno, Calif. - As they have been since the inception of women's wrestling as an official 3C2A sport, Cerritos College and Mt. San Antonio College have been the top two teams in the state, consistently battling for supremacy. And for the first three seasons of the growing sport, the Falcons have won that battle, claiming three straight State Titles with the Mounties coming in second each time.

Early on during today's 3C2A State Championship in Fresno, it looked as if Mt. SAC was ready to finally grab the team gold. But by time the semifinals were in the books, the Falcons had taken back its perch atop the team scores. Sealing the deal by in part by advancing wrestlers into championship brackets in six weight classes, Cerritos grabbed gold in five of the six weights and won the 3C2A State Championship for a fourth straight year. The Falcons finished with a team-high of 239.0 points, while Mt SAC, with 202.0 points, was once again the runner-up.

"It's just a great opportunity for women's wrestling," said Cerritos College head coach Dustin Kirk. "We have a phenomenal group of coaches and student-athletes."

Asked about the roots of his program's dominance since the sport's inception in 2023, Coach Kirk said the number one factor was culture. "You gotta hold people accountable," Kirk commented, "and get girls to support each other."

"There's a psychological epidemic in youth sports and high school sports," Kirk stated. "A lot ofpeople tie their self-worth to the results on a wrestling mat. We teach that that's not true; it's the content of our character."

The five individual champions for the Falcons were Rebekah Jimenez (110lbs), Christina Osorio(124lbs), Casey Otero (145lbs), Kinsey Konrad (180lbs), and Eniekeye Osede (235lbs). The runner-up Mounties had two first-place finishers in Sienna Montanez (103lbs) and Mackenzie Muniz (117lbs). Cerritos' Otero won the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award.

Arguably the most exciting championship match of the night was the 131lb title bout, an exciting back-and-forth affair between Aubree Kooren of Cuesta College and Brenaye Stubbs of Sacramento City College. Kooren was down 9-6 in round two before she able to flip Stubbs over and on her back and get the pin via armbar.

The 138lb title bout saw a spirited, three-round chess match between Cerritos' Dalila Preciado and Santa Rosa JC's Luana Stathopoulos. With her teammates cheering loudly, Stathopoulos outlasted Preciado for the 5-2 decision.

The 160lb final pitted Kayleen Tuavao of San Joaquin Delta College against Alexandria Perez of Palomar College. Tuavao faced pressure from Perez in the early moments of the first round, but a beautiful reverse into a headlock got Tuavao in the position to pin Perez before the round ended.

Sacramento City College finished third overall with 114.5 points. Their head coach, Marques Gales, who was awarded Coach of the Year during the post-match ceremonies, is excited to see how the sport has grown over its first four years. "It was a long time coming," said Gales when he reminisced about the sport's beginnings in the state. "It was a lot of sacrifices, but we really believed. The girls deserve it."

Next year will bring changes to the championship format, as the North and South regions willeach have a qualifying regional tournament added to the postseason prior to State. The idea is to match what men's wrestling has in place: a limit to the number of place qualifiers per each weight class. "It'll make the [State] tournament a little smaller but it'll be a lot stronger," said Gales, who also completed his first term as California Community College Wrestling Coaches Association (CCCWCA) President. "It'll make it more equitable because each region will be able to qualify the same amount of wrestlers."

Awards
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Kinsey Konrad (180 - Cerritos)
Coach of the Year: Marques Gales (Sacramento City)

Final Team Scores