TORRANCE — Knowing he’d be last to wrestle for South Torrance, Sawyer Ross did his best to stay composed leading up to his match in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Boys Wrestling Dual Meet Championship against El Dorado on Wednesday night.

“I tried to stay out of the whole crowd thing,” Ross said. “It was a little disruptive and I thought my eardrums were about to burst. I just tried to stay calm beforehand and I knew it was a match I could win, so I tried to keep my heart rate down and my mind in it.”

Thanks to an escape late in his match, Ross’ victory at 120 pounds helped South Torrance capture the title with a 34-32 win.

The dual meet started at 126 pounds.

When the horn sounded at the end of Ross’ match, a 10-9 win, the Spartans’ sideline erupted.

Caden Garriott knew how important Ross’ composure was, especially with the title on the line in the final match of the night.

“That’s a big match for a junior too who’s only been in the lineup for a year before this,” Garriott said. “He really shut (the noise) out. Everyone was screaming, the pressure’s going, the gym is shaking. It was super impressive.”

South jumped ahead 31-7 after Seth Blevin’s pin with in the third round at 175 pounds. But the Spartan coaching staff knew the night was far from over.

“We knew (El Dorado’s) upper weights were very tough and we knew it was possible we were going to lose the 190, 215 and heavyweight (matches),” coach Dylan Garriott said. “We put out a freshman in the 106-pound, so we knew that was going to be trouble.”

El Dorado won by pins at 190 and 215 pounds, with Caden Lawson (190) completing a thrilling rally.

South’s Melvin Cartagena scored a takedown before a near-fall for a 7-0 lead early in the match, but Lawson continued to battle. Cartagena scored a takedown early in the second, but again Lawson kept fighting, pinning pinning Cartagena with 34.3 seconds left in the second round.

Caden Garriott knew he had to stay composed on the bench, despite watching the Spartans lead trimmed to 31-13 with five matches left.

“I was nervous especially after that 190 match we were winning and then we got pinned, but as one of the leaders on the team you can’t really show that, especially with the crowd watching,” Garriott said. “You have to keep your composure and trust in every single one of your teammates.”

El Dorado’s Griff Lawson pinned Jacob Kerekes at 215 pounds and Colin Chan outlasted South’s Robert Crowe behind a 2-1 decision to cut South’s advantage to 31-22.

Diego Garcia scored a pin in the 106 and Dylan Esquivel earned a 15-7 major decision over Zairone Cabrera to give El Dorado the lead at 32-31, heading into Sawyer’s 120-pound match.

“(My emotions) are always high, and I have to try to shield that from the kids. I don’t want them to get my energy and that goes into their wrestling,” Dylan Garriott said. “We do a whole week of prep, get the scouting report and things like that. It helps, but it’s always a high anxiety moment.”

South began the evening with wins in five of its first six matches, including Caden Garriott’s 132-pound match and Kyle Da Nobrega’s pin at 144 pounds.

“I was excited to go out and keep the ball rolling,” Da Nobrega said. “Try to get that first six points, the first pin for the team and get another six up there and keep building the lead.”

The victory secured South’s sixth division title in eight years.

“(This championship) means a lot,” Dylan Garriott said. “We came here with a purpose. We knew we were going to win titles, we just didn’t know how many and we really set a lot of records here.”

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