UNLV guard has climbed the mountain

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 11:25 a.m.

Peter Tramontanas remembers the feeling he had the first time he laid eyes on the city of Las Vegas during his recruiting trip to UNLV.

"Just flying in was crazy," the Rebels' starting right guard recalled. "It looked like Christmas with all the lights and everything."

It's somewhat amazing that the 6-6, 260-pound Tramontanas didn't keel over from culture shock at the sight.

After all, Tramontanas' hometown of Alturas, Calif., a mountain town of about 3,200 people in the remote northeast corner of California, couldn't be more the opposite of Las Vegas.

"We don't have a stop light, no fast foods, nothing," Tramontanas said.

Not even a McDonald's?

"Nope."

How about a 7-11?

"No."

Tramontanas paused for a moment and then volunteered, "We've got like a Frosty's ice cream place and that's about it. They just put in a drive-thru, so it's kind of high-tech there.

"We're about 45 minutes from the Oregon border," he said. "It's all farming and ranching , pretty much, with cattle and alfalfa and stuff like that. Probably the closest big city that anyone has heard of is Reno and that's about 2 1/2 hours from where I live."

To hear Tramontanas tell it, Alturas could very well be the model town for the movie "Pleasantville."

"A car thief could make a living there because everyone leaves their keys in their ignitions," he says. "It's a very trusting place. It's very friendly. Everyone waves at you and everything."

It's such a remote area that Modoc County, where Alturas is located, had never produced a Division I-A scholarship athlete in any sport until Tramontanas, a member of Cal-Hi Sports small school all-state team as a senior, accepted a full ride to UNLV over schools such as Oregon State, Idaho State and Boise State.

Tramontanas, who starred in four sports at Modoc High School --- football, basketball, baseball and wrestling --- had only 20 players on his high school football team and only about 50 students in his graduating class.

So the move from high school football to the WAC was a big jump.

"A big, big change," he said. "There's more people in the band here (at UNLV) than were in the stands at our games."

So how did UNLV find out about someone like Tramontanas?

"One of our former graduate assistants, Danny Byers, is a coach at Susanville," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said, referring to another small town about halfway between Reno and Alturas. "He sent us a film of Peter and we liked what we saw. (Alturas) is not a place where you'd drive through and say, 'Hey, got any players?' It's a little off the beaten track."

Horton had one of his more interesting recruiting trips when he went to meet with Tramontanas and his family.

"When I went to see him, I had just spent a few days recruiting in Hawaii," Horton recalled. "I flew a red-eye to San Francisco, then caught a flight to Medford, Ore., then drove about two hours to Alturas into the snow and everything. So I went from the beaches of Honolulu into the mountains in the middle of nowhere."

Despite being a true freshman, Tramontanas will be making his fourth college start Saturday afternoon when UNLV hosts Tulsa at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"He's made the adjustment to Division I football very quickly and is doing some good things," Horton acknowledged. "He's a tough physical guy who just wants to go out and play hard and have a good time."

Tramontanas is an education major who hopes to one day return to his hometown to teach and coach.

"(Las Vegas) is nice and everything, but it's like big clusters of people," Tramontanas said. "I love hunting and fishing, but you really can't do much of that around here. If you're into the outdoors and everything, Alturas is a wonderful place to live."

Rebel notes

Good news for all-WAC defensive end Talance Sawyer. He became only the sixth Rebel football player in school history to be invited to the prestigious Hula Bowl game. The other five were offensive lineman Dennis Whitmore (1996), wide receiver Henry Bailey (1994), offensive lineman Lonnie Palelei (1993), running back Ickey Woods (1988) and quarterback Sam King (1982). "It's a great honor," Sawyer, who leads the WAC in tackles for losses, said. "I'm proud to be selected and to be able to (have a chance) to showcase my talent around the country and show a lot of (NFL) scouts what I can do." ... Sophomore guard Blake Livingood (6-8, 320), who has shared time at right guard with Pete Tramontanas, will likely miss Saturday's game with a knee injury. ... Safety Randy Black, who sat out the last two games with a shoulder injury, practiced Wednesday and should start Saturday.