Walnut’s Ronnie Ramirez came up short in his bid to win a third straight CIF State wrestling title, but the Oklahoma State commit left little doubt that he was the San Gabriel Valley’s top boys wrestler.

Ramirez, who wrestles at 126 pounds, won the CIF Southern Section Eastern Division title by pinning Lakeside’s Aden Arista in the finals.

Ramirez was just as dominant at the CIF-SS Masters Meet. Ramirez pinned Sultana’s Rocky Humphrey in two minutes in the championship match, making him the top seed for the CIF State meet in Bakersfield.

Ramirez was hoping to finish his brilliant career with a third straight state title. Last year, Ramirez went undefeated in winning the 120-pound state championship.

But Ramirez’s bid for a three-peat ended in the quarterfinals of the state meet when he was pinned in the third period while ahead 6-2 in the match.

While it was a shocking ending for Ramirez, what he accomplished the last four years at Walnut is truly remarkable. He will exit as one of the San Gabriel Valley’s best wrestlers of all time.

ALL-AREA TEAM

106: Elijah Butler, Northview, Sr.

113: Noah Butler, Northview

120: Christian Garcia, Walnut, Sr.

126: Ronnie Ramirez, Walnut, Sr.

132: Henry Arellano, Northview, Jr.

138: Noah Lopez, Walnut, Sr.

144: Matthew Palacios, Walnut Sr.

150: Tristan Fernandez, Bonita, Sr.

157: Christopher Leon, Damien, Sr.

165: Rex Topete, South Hills, So.

175: Peter Xu, Diamond Bar, Sr.

190: Michael Vasselle, Northview, Sr.

215: Fernando Toscano, Santa Fe, Sr.

285: Ezekeil Lucero, Northview, So.