Championship Chase

Mike Sims

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.

The Cimarron-Memorial wrestling team dominated the regional tournaments last week at Bonanza High School, advancing 12 wrestlers to the state finals in Winnemucca this weekend. The win gave the Spartans their seventh zone or regional title in the past eight years.

"We are sending 11 starters and one alternate to state this weekend," Cimarron coach Tim Jeffries said. "We expected to do well, but the job isn't finished yet."

The job he means is winning the state championship for the third year in a row. Cimarron has been in this position before, but finished second to Las Vegas High in 2001.

The Spartans have won four state titles and never finished worse than third since 1997 in the state tournament.

"We believe in hard work and demand intensity," Jeffries said. "We as coaches work year-round, and demand the best from our kids. We try and push them and make sure they are not afraid to work hard."

Jeffries said the reason for their success is the support they get from the school staff, administration and parents. He and Mike Garcia keep the program successful by getting kids started with wrestling in middle school.

"We go to the middle schools zoned from Cimarron and help get the kids interested in wrestling," Jeffries said. "We put the pressure on them young, and teach them to work hard."

Cimarron has numerous talented wrestlers, including All-Americans Bobby Musser and Chase Pami, both captains of the team.

"We have great leaders like Pami and Musser. They are both good examples in the classroom and on the mat," Jefferies said.

Musser and Pami are each going for their second individual state titles.

"Pami brings something to the room every time I wrestle with him," Spartans wrestler Randel Aleman said. "He motivates me to work harder. He's our quiet leader. He will lead by example and has great sportsmanship."

Along with Pami and Musser, Aleman is a two-time state champion and Cimarron's Bryce Garcia won the 275-pound regional.

"Aleman is doing well this year, and he is only a junior," Jeffries said. "All those kids have a chance to wrestle at the Division I level."

Aleman could have a chance to do something that no other wrestler at Cimarron has done, and that's win four state titles. All the wrestlers credit their coaches for their hard work and dedication.

"This year our coaches have prepared us well," Aleman said. "We have great support from our school to go along with the hard work from our coaches."

Along with that hard work comes humility.

"Compared to teams that have won past state titles we are not a dynasty," Jeffries said. "We are just a competitive and hard-working program."

The program is yet a far cry from reaching the level of success attained by Eldorado throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, when the Sundevils won 11 state titles from 1981-1995, but it's getting there.