LAS VEGAS – Stephen Abas waved his index finger at Henry Cejudo less than a minute into their U.S. Olympic wrestling trials championship series, telling his Olympic Training Center teammate to back off.   Of course, Cejudo didn’t listen. He never has let his opponent dictate the tempo.   The Coronado High School graduate qualified for the Beijing Games on Saturday by beating two opponents and Abas twice in the 121-pound men’s freestyle finals of the trials at Thomas & Mack Center.   “All the critics that don’t think I’m good, I proved it,” Cejudo said.   Doug Schwab also earned a men’s freestyle Olympic berth at 145.5. In Greco-Roman, OTC residents T.C. Dantzler (163) and Brad Vering (185) and 18-year-old Jake Deitchler (145.5) punched their tickets to Beijing.   OTC resident Ryan Reser (160.9) qualified for Beijing in the Olympic judo trials. Other Olympic qualifiers were Sayaka Matsumoto (105.8), Valerie Gotay (125.7), Taraje Williams-Murray (132.3) and Travis Stevens (178.6)   The wrestling trials conclude today with competition in four men’s freestyle weight classes and two Greco-Roman divisions. Fourteen Colorado Springs residents will compete, including Greco-Roman finalists Justin Ruiz (211.5) and Dremiel Byers (264.5).   His parents former illegal immigrants, Cejudo, 21, advanced to the finals of an 11-person bracket with a 5-0, 6-1 win over Grant Nakamura and a 1-0, 1-0 victory against Danny Felix.   In their first match, Cejudo dominated Abas, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, in a 3-2, 4-0 win. Abas had a 2-0 lead in the first before Cejudo tied the score with 18 seconds left and got a takedown at the buzzer. Cejudo scored two takedowns in a 40-second span in the second.   Abas was too aggressive for Cejudo in their second match, cruising to a 2-0, 6-3 victory. He scored both of his first-period points on leg grabs and pulled ahead 5-2 in the second after a leg grab, a reversal and a takedown.   Cejudo won the third match 0-1, 3-0, 3-0, controlling the pace from the start. He marked two secondperiod takedowns. In the third, he wore out Abas, who needed two medical timeouts because of an injured left knee.   “If you have two kneepads on, I’m going to go in there and try to do something,” said Cejudo, a twotime state champion at Coronado. “I just wrestled. I don’t think he was seriously hurt. I think he was tired.”   Abas, 30, retired after the loss, kissing his shoes and placing them at the center of the mat as tears streamed down his face.   “I was hoping to give it one more shot and show the world what I could do,” Abas said. “Unfortunately, I came up short. I wish Henry all the luck. I know he can do well if he just matures a little more.”

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