The Cerritos College wrestling program has no shortage of family ties.
Alfonso Estrada, Ramon Estrada, and Thomas Estrada are all brothers on the wrestling team.
Ramon and Thomas are twins and freshmen at Cerritos, and Alfonso, their older brother, is a sophomore.
Born and raised in Riverside, the Estrada brothers moved to Norwalk to wrestle at Cerritos College.
Alfonso was the first to make the trip, two years ago.
Thomas and Ramon were quick to join.
Thomas said, “My brother came out here first, he lived out here on his own.
“[Ramon and I] pretty much saw that he could do it, so we decided to come out here and do it with him.”
The three brothers share an apartment near the school.
“We all just gave money trying to survive, and go to school right here and wrestle,” Ramon said.
Each brother began wrestling in their freshman year at Perris High School in Riverside.
They had trouble finding a collegiate wrestling program to join once they had graduated high school, though.
They found that program at Cerritos.
After visiting the campus and talking to wrestling coach Don Garriott, the brothers made their decision.
Ramon said, “There’s no wrestling program where we were at. So it was either here or San Diego.
“And Cerritos has a good wrestling program, so that’s why we moved out here.”
Within the wrestling team, the brothers find that they bring a competitive passion out of each other.
“With my brothers, we always go at it.” Thomas said during practice.
“None of us really want to lose, you know, because we’re brothers.”
Thomas and Ramon finished their seasons with overall records of 13-7 and 17-10, respectively.
Alfonso has no statistics posted on the wrestling team’s website.
Thomas also had a third place finish in the 174-pound weight division at the Southern California Championship, in which Cerritos College placed first overall.