SPRING SPORTS : Bell High’s Ochoa Finishes 12th in State Wrestling Tourney

Bell’s Ramses Ochoa finished 12th in the 145-pound division of the State High School Wrestling Championships on March 4-5 at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.

After losing to South Hills’ Steve Duran, 7-4, in his first match, Ochoa beat Don Meceri of San Diego Valhalla High, 9-6, Edgar Esquivel of Valejo, 6-2, and Chris Jaime of Santa Ana El Modena, 9-4. Ochoa lost to Tim Bonebright of Thousand Oaks, 9-4, in his only match on March 5.

Track

The Cal State Los Angeles men’s track team was no match for UCLA, the eight-time NCAA champion, in a quadrangular meet with UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Long Beach in Westwood on March 5.

UCLA, which has lost only one dual meet in the last decade, recorded victories in 14 of 18 events to win with 106.5 points.

Cal State L.A. finished second with 25 points followed by Santa Barbara and Long Beach with 18.5 and 17.5 points.

Cal State L.A. managed to score in all the sprints, including a victory by Ruben Benitez in the 400 (48.22).

The Golden Eagle 400 relay team of Jason Gibbs, John Hensley, Benitez and Keadrick Washington and the 1,600 relay team of Benitez, Sharpe, Gibbs and Washington finished second to the Bruins with times of 42.09 and 3:18.37.

Washington also won the 400 intermediate hurdles in 53.10 and placed second in the 110 high hurdles in 14.71.

Jim Hurtado (167 feet) and Robert Clark (158-2) finished second and third in the hammer. Hurtado and Clark were also second in the shotput and discus at 48-2 1/2 and 160-8. The Golden Eagles also received a third-place finish from Oscar Urizar in the 3,000 (8:41.24).

Janet Hill, the defending Division II champion in the shotput, won her specialty with a heave of 48-5 1/4 and Lisa Henderson won the javelin with a throw of 127-1 to pace Cal State L.A. to second in the women’s competition with 36 points behind UCLA’s 98.