The Spartans’ 157-pound standout aspires to make school history later in the winter season, but for now, he’s using these early tournaments as a barometer for his progress.

This past Saturday, he was the lone division champion from the four area schools represented at the 9th annual Rod Gaines Invitational hosted by Tokay. After placing sixth last year, aimed for a better showing on his return. He went 4-0 and turned in a dominant effort in the final.  

“Winning the tournament made me feel proud of all the work I put in,” he said. “Wrestling hard and technical was the main accomplishment over winning the championship ring.”

Ceja-Ramirez certainly earned the title with some of the wins he had to pull off just to get to the final.

Following a first-round bye, he pinned Stagg’s Daniel Martin in 2 minutes, 47 seconds after establishing a 9-0 lead.

In the quarterfinal round, he fell behind against Hamza Hamid of West and trailed 4-1 early in the second period. Ceja-Ramirez then took him down for another pinfall victory in 2:54.

He mounted an even more dramatic comeback in his semifinal versus Mountain House’s Samuel Miller, who shot out to 10-2 advantage in the opening period. Ceja-Ramirez turned the tide in the next period, scoring seven unanswered points en route to an 18-12 decision win.

The championship round was by comparison a cinch. Ceja-Ramirez bolted to a 10-1 lead before stopping Calaveras’ Riley Aria in 2:33.

“He deserved it,” Lathrop coach Mitchell Selna said. “I’m so proud of how hard he has been working and happy to see it pay off. We have all the faith in the world in him, and now it’s time for him to go all out. Taking home hardware at these tournaments is great, but he is hungry for more.”

Ceja-Ramirez wants to be the first male wrestler from Lathrop High to qualify for the state tournament. He came up short last season at the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament two weeks after capping an undefeated Western Athletic Conference campaign.

“My main goal this season is to not have any regrets and perform to the best of my ability. If I work hard every day and listen to my coaching, I know that I can do anything.”