Cimarron seeks 3rd straight title

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 9, 2001 | 10:40 a.m.

Cimarron-Memorial's drive for a third straight 4A state wrestling title begins today, and Nevada's new postseason format may help pave the road for the Spartans.

For the first time, area programs will divide into two separate qualifying tournaments -- the Sunrise and Sunset Regionals -- which replace the traditional 4A Southern Zone Meet.

In the past, a Cimarron wrestler had to finish among the top four in his weight class in a field of 18 schools to garner a state berth. Now, he needs only to finish in the top five individually -- this time in a field of just nine schools -- to earn a trip to Elko next weekend.

The more wrestlers the Spartans bring north, the better their chances of coming home with their third consecutive state championship.

"Our goal is to qualify as many as we can, and we feel like we should realistically have all 14 kids in," Cimarron coach Tim Jeffries said. "We're not so good we can't get knocked off, but we're hoping to get all 14 kids there."

While the Spartans, who did not lose a dual meet to a Nevada opponent this year, are expected to run away with the Sunset Regional at Centennial High School, the Sunrise Meet at Las Vegas High should be a much tighter affair. The host Wildcats and rival Rancho are the top contenders.

Individuals to watch on the Sunset side include: Bonanza's Ben Ness (130) and Chris Hubbard (160), Centennial's Ryan Bundra (171), Cheyenne's Chris Davy (125), Cimarron's Rayes Gonzales (152), Joe Tussing (189), Rodrick Atwood (215) and Brandon Garcia (175), Durango's Alan McIver (119) and Luke Doty (215), Palo Verde's Ryan Worthen (189) and Western's Jose Pineda (140).

Top wrestlers in the Sunrise meet include: Basic's Aaron Martinez (160), Chaparral's Curtis Johnson (130), Green Valley's Mike Bowman (145), Las Vegas' Chris Gifford (160), Greg Gifford (171), David Hales (189) and Jacob Hales (215), Rancho's Chase Diller (112), Jered Medina (119), Billy Rosado (125) and Josh Medina (145) and Silverado's Michael Castle (119) and V.R. Bohman (275).

Action kicks off today at 4 p.m. and continues Saturday at 10 a.m. Championship finals at both sites are slated for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.