For the third time in school history, the Cerritos College wrestling team captured the state championship, as they out-dueled South Coast Conference foe Palomar to the wire. The Falcons, who also saw four of their nine qualifiers win individual championships, recorded 128.5 team points, while the Comets finished with 126 points to come in second place during the two-day event this past weekend at Cypress College. The Falcons also won the title in 1995 and during the 1970-71 season.    The entire tournament went back and forth with the Falcons and Comets, while the outcome was decided without a Cerritos wrestler on the mat. Clinging to their 2.5 point lead, the Falcons had to wait and see what would happen at 197 pounds, as Palomar's Chris Chambers went up against Ralph Garcia of Moorpark. A win by Chambers would give the Comets enough team points to earn them the championship. After taking a 3-1 lead, Chambers saw Garcia make a miraculous comeback and went on to post a 5-3 triumph. When time ran out on the match, the entire Cerritos team exploded in celebration and poured onto the floor. The team then went into the back wrestling room to celebrate before coming back into the gym to the applause of the 1,000 appreciative fans.    "I believed in this team since the beginning and I let them know it," said Falcon head coach Greg Gascon, who was named the state's Coach of the Year. "I can't speak enough about these guys. I'm speechless. It's like a dream. I can't ask for anything more," said the fourth-year head coach, who also concluded his 12th year with the program.     "Each and every wrestler stepped up and earned every point they could," added Gascon. "We collected several early pins, which earned us a lot of points. They all did what they were asked to do."    Ironically, Gascon and assistant coach Brian Ransom, who was named the Assistant Coach of the Year, both wrestled for Cypress College and were both All-Americans. Gascon, who won an individual state championship (118-pounder in 1984), was a two-time All-American, while Ransom placed third in the state championships back in the mid- 80's.    Cerritos advanced five wrestlers into the finals, with four of them winning titles. The first Falcon to wrestle in the finals was sophomore Damacio Page (West Valley, NM), who was a third place finisher last season. Leading 4-0 against Steve Avelar of Cypress in the finals, Page almost lost the match, as he was flipped and came close to being pinned. He was able to avoid the pin and held a 9-7 lead late in the match. However, Avelar recorded a two-point reversal late in the match to send it into overtime. With the first wrestler to record either a reversal or takedown winning the title, Page came through in the exciting match and came away with a reversal and the state championship.     The win by Page gave the Falcons four more team points and closed their gap on Palomar to 122-115.5.    Up next for the Falcons in the finals was freshman Shanon Slack (Hermatage, WV), who was named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Southern California Regionals a week earlier. Slack, who breezed through his first three opponents, finished off Gabe Ruhkala of Sierra, 12-5 to win the title and pick up four more team points. Slack was also rewarded for his performance by being named the Most Valuable Wrestler of the State Championships.    Cerritos took their first lead of the championships after sophomore Marco Lara (Lakewood) posted an 8-2 win over Kyle Bickford of Palomar. With the Comets leading in the team score 122-119.5 going into the match, a win by Bickford would have all but secured the title for Palomar. But Lara, who did not wrestle much during the early part of the season, came on strong and made great contributions when he wrestled.     Palomar regained the lead at 157 pounds when Matt Lambert posted a 6-2 win to give them a 126-123.5 advantage. The Falcons had another chance to take over the lead, but freshman Gerry Barragan (West Valley) fell, 5-4 to Jesse Vazquez of Modesto. Barragan, who injured his knee in the second round, was in so much pain by the finals that he told Gascon he couldn't even shoot anymore and tried to hold on as best as he could while leading 4-3. But Vazquez was able to record a takedown with :03 seconds left after Barragan's knee gave out. The loss did not produce any points for Cerritos, who had one last chance to take over the lead.    Freshman Chris Lopez (Northview / Oregon State), who had not wrestled up to his potential all season, started to come on strong late in the season. He earned the #1 spot in the state tournament by winning the Southern California Regional championship. But just as the Falcons had a chance to take the team point lead, the Comets had a chance to clinch the victory, as Lopez was facing Jesse Taylor of Palomar in the finals.    Lopez controlled the match from the outset and almost pinned Lopez twice before settling for a 15-2 win. The 13-point triumph gave the Falcons five team points, which put them at a 128.5-126 team point lead. That led up to the 197-pound match, which would decide the title.    "I walked up to the Moorpark coach (Paul Keysaw) prior to the 197-pound match and I told him we are all supporting him and his wrestler in the match," said Gascon. "He was focused on the match so he just nodded to me."    With all of the Falcon wrestlers and coaches near the mat during the match, the energy in the gym continued to swell as the match progressed. The crowd, which seemed to be rooting for the Falcons, erupted in applause after Garcia of Moorpark recorded what turned out to be the winning takedown with :25 seconds left in the match.    "The Moorpark coach came up to me after the match and he told me I owed him big. And he didn't mean just one beer," recalled Gascon.    In addition, sophomore Scott Oda (Fountain Valley) placed seventh at 157 pounds and freshman Emiliano Lopez (Norwalk) came in eighth place at 165 pounds. Sophomore 197-pounder Tad Millane (Brethren Christian) and freshman heavyweight Diego Garcia (Norwalk) did not place at the state championships.    Slack, who entered the championships as the top-rated wrestler at 141 pounds, made quick work of his first two opponents, as he recorded pins. In the first round, he pinned Marcus Moore (Sacramento City) in 2:40, while he needed just 1:15 to finish off Josh Sha of Skyline. In the semi-finals, Slack defeated Chris Chames of West Valley, 8-6 before his win over Ruhkla earned him the state title.     Page, who placed third in last year's state championships, pinned Jeremy Waldram of Cuesta in just :46 seconds to open the tournament. He followed that with a 10-4 win over Darrell Goodpaster of Fresno City, before recording a pin over Raul Lopez of Shasta in 5:35. That put Page in the finals against Avelar, where he posted the overtime win.    Lara opened the tournament with a solid 16-9 win over Carl Arevalo of San Joaquin Delta and then came right back with a pin over Cody Wilkinson of West Valley in 5:30. He earned a spot in the finals with another fall, this time in 3:50 over top-rated Juan Serna of Santa Ana before his 8-2 win over Bickford in the finals.    Lopez made quick work of Amanjot Tamana (Modesto) in the first round with a fall in 2:00 before he registered a 15-4 win over Mike Hidalgo of Moorpark. In the semi-finals, Lopez came away with a hard-fought 6-4 win over Sean Reid of Shasta, which sent him into the finals.    Barragan, who was the top-rated wrestler at 174 pounds, posted a technical fall over Ray Gastelum of Skyline when he defeated him, 19-2. But it was in the second round, where Barragan suffered his knee injury. He was able to defeat Justin Rivera of Moorpark, 11-4 and turned in an incredible performance against Eddie Locke of Shasta in the semi-finals by defeating him, 10-4. But the injury was too much for Barragan to handle, as he did his best against Vazquez in the finals.