Sports briefs for January 25, 2005

Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

UNLV lands two more commitments

UNLV football coach Mike Sanford picked up two more commitments on Monday.

Kellen Moriarty (6-foot, 190 pounds) of Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, Calif., the son of former Notre Dame fullback Larry Moriarty, committed to the Rebels, as did all-Arizona offensive lineman Ray Lobato (6-4, 280) of Amphi High in Tucson.

Moriarty, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds and has a 36 1/2-inch vertical leap, played quarterback in high school and was good enough to be recruited by Rice to run the Wishbone. He likely will end up in the secondary at UNLV.

Moriarty also took a recruiting trip to Colorado and cancelled a trip to Washington this weekend to join the Rebels.

The national letter of intent signing period begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2.

-- Steve Guiremand

China penalizes 17

China punished 17 athletes last year for using performance-enhancing drugs, imposing penalties that ranged from fines to competition bans of up to two years. China carried out 4,003 drug tests on athletes in 2004, the Chinese Olympic Committee anti-doping office said in an announcement reported by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Heatley works on deal

Atlanta Thrashers forward Dany Heatley is closing in on a plea deal with prosecutors in his vehicular homicide case, but there are questions over the length of the sentence and how a conviction would affect his immigration status, his lawyer said. Prosecution spokesman Erik Friedly would not say if the two sides are close to a deal. If Heatley intends to enter a negotiated settlement on charges involving the Sept. 29, 2003 death of teammate Dan Snyder, Friday is the deadline, Friedly said.

Six UNLV fighters win matches at Bally's

An estimated crowd of more than 1,000 watched 16 matches Saturday at the Las Vegas Punch Bowl held at Bally's. The Las Vegas Elite and UNLV Dr. Elias Ghanem boxing teams hosted the event, with four Elite boxers and six UNLV boxers winning their bouts.

Among the winners were: Leo Peinado (Mongoose Boxing, Calif.) in the 69-pound class; Robert Coones (USIAA, Calif.) in the 98-pound class; L.P. Flores Barrier and Angel Magdaleno (LV Elite Boxing) in the 105-pound class; Jose Martinez (Tulare, Calif.) in the 122-pound class; Lashauna Mark (Las Vegas Boxing) in the 135-pound class; Manny Libatique (LV Elite) and Matt Leon (UNLV) by knockout in the 132-pound class; Daniel Reece (UNLV) and Antonio Garcia (LV Elite) in the 147-pound class; Carlos Munoz (LV Boxing) in the 153-pound class; Ryan Healy (UNR) in the 165-pound class; Greg Murrell and Jason Crocco (UNLV) in the 175-pound class; Gus McNair (UNLV) in the 185-pound class; and Henry Namauu (UNLV) by first-round knockout in the 201-plus class.