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LATINO WRESTLING EXPERIENCE NATIONAL WRESTLING HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM | 61 California State University- Bakersfield is home to one of this country's proudest and smallest wrestling programs. The Roadrunners, with an enrollment of less than 8,000, compete with much larger rivals in the Pac-12 like Arizona State University, Stanford and Oregon State. What the Roadrunners lack in numbers of student fans and endowment, they more than make up for in a tradition of Latino wrestlers who long have distinguished themselves on the mat. Typical of this Latino wrestling legacy is Efren Ceballos, a graduate of Manteca High School in Manteca, Calif. Time and again Efren, wrestling 125 pounds, faced off against wrestlers from the Pac-12 and their affiliate schools like rival Cal-Poly, to emerge the winner after three rounds. Efren's total mat victories number 114, placing him seventh on the list at CSUB. This is a record that speaks for itself against the best wrestlers in the country as Efren qualified for the NCAA Championships every year he wrestled. Missing All-American status by the narrowest of margins his first three years, and ranked sixth in the nation most of his senior year in 2005, Efren fought his way on the mat to a fifth-place finish at the NCAAs in St. Louis and the coveted honors that went with his victories. Efren's final All-America season was the direct result of hard work and never giving up as he bested the Minnesota wrestler with a takedown in overtime with just one second remaining on the clock. Roadrunner fans also remember epic battles with a number of state and regional rivals including the outstanding Vic Moreno at Cal-Poly and Boise State's Scott Jorgensen. Roadrunner teammate Matt Sanchez was an exceptional wrestler in his own right. Sanchez earned All-America honors twice at the NCAA Championships where he qualified all four years of his college mat career. His last year, he battled for a fifth-place finish at 133 pounds. Not surprisingly, Sanchez boasted a stellar high school career at Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, Wash. where, as a senior, he bested the reigning two-time state champion to take home the state championship at 121 pounds. That same year, Matt was also a runner-up at the National High School Cahmpionship. Wrestling as a Roadrunner, Sanchez was a feared pinner. Heading into the 2005 NCAA tournament, he had pinned 21 opponents, placing him at the very top of the national statistics. He also wrestled at Gilroy College and Iowa State before joining the Roadrunners. After graduation, Matt was an assistant coach at the University of California-Davis. Just how good have the Roadrunners been over the years because of the contributions of Latino wrestlers? Coach T.J. Kerr summed it up in 2005 when he said about his team at the end of the year: "It is very hard to just take four guys (to Nationals) but have two earn All- American status." One of those All-American wrestlers was Efren Ceballos , the other All-American his teammate, Matt Sanchez 2002-2005 125lbs California State University-Bakersfield 2002-2005 133lbs California State University-Bakersfield MATT SANCHEZ EFREN CEBALLOS EFREN CEBALLOS MATT SANCHEZ