HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: No holding back

Rattlers look to pin down remainder of season in title bid

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After years of chasing Cimarron-Memorial in the Northwest Division, at the Sunset Regional and at the Class 4A state meet, Mojave High School's wrestling program suddenly looks like it could be on the verge of greatness.

After beating the three-time defending state champion Spartans in two meets earlier this year, fourth-year coach Bill Murray and his young Rattlers appear to be a team that will make some noise in the future due to hard work and a top-notch feeder program in the Rattlesnake Wrestling Club.

Mojave (24-2 overall at press time, 6-0 Northwest) lost a state champion when 103-pounder Nick Mills (39-0 last year) moved to Arizona, but returns four sophomore state qualifiers in 119-pound state champion DeAndre Taylor, Colby Evans, David Jordan and Reggie Powers, as well as four junior varsity zone champions.

After topping the school that has won five of the last seven state crowns in Cimarron, winning the Centennial Bulldog Grappler tournament Jan. 14 at Centennial High School, finishing second in the prestigious Pine View (Utah) High School Wrestling tournament Jan. 21 in St. George, Utah, and being on the brink of winning the school's first-ever Northwest Division title, Murray was delighted with the new reality.

"I'm very happy. We're where we expected to be right now. If we beat Cheyenne, we'll be 6-0 in the league (Northwest) and we win the division title, which will be the first time in Mojave's 10-year history that it has won the (divisional) title," Murray said of his Rattlers' then-upcoming dual meet, in which Mojave beat Cheyenne, 66-10, on Jan. 26 to clinch the title.

After dethroning Cimarron (16-4, 2-1) in the Northwest, the Rattlers looked to take a bite out of the Spartans -- and all of the other high schools on the west side of the city -- at the Sunrise Regional on Feb. 3-4 at Bonanza High School. Results were unavailable at press time.

The Mojave coach spoke on the possibility of his Rattlers winning their first Sunset Regional.

"We've got momentum going and if we can do that (win Sunset Regional), we can take a lot of the drive out of our opponents," Murray said. "That's one of our goals. We want to do that. That's been our goal for the last four years. We set a plan out and we're finally getting to that point where we're reaching those goals."

Murray talked about the brutal reality of having to wrestle in the toughest corner of Las Vegas.

"The hard thing for us is the fact that we're in the Northwest Division with Palo Verde and Cimarron-Memorial. There's no doubt that we have to be in the toughest division, hands-down, in the state," Murray said. "And trying to qualify as many kids as possible is going to be tough, when only three kids from the regionals qualify for state. So with Bonanza and a couple of those other schools that have some pretty tough kids, it's going to be tough for us to get a large number through (to state).

"I'm hoping that we can qualify eight, nine, 10 starters and then probably a couple of our second-team guys. Because you can take four extras as a second team, we're trying to get as many of those kids as possible through because if we take someone else's spot, it helps our chances of winning the state title."

Winning that first state title may be in the cards for Mojave, whose roster is the deepest in town, with lowerclassmen dominating a majority of the Rattlers' weight classes.

When asked to describe how things differed compared to last year, Murray said it was a lot of things.

"We do spring wrestling, then during the summer we go to a couple camps, and we keep in touch with all the kids and just try to keep them busy," he said. "And luckily, a lot of these kids have five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years experience so we're dealing with a lot of experienced young kids. Right now, we have five freshman and like six sophomores that are contributing to the team on a regular basis. We're dominated by lowerclassmen."

Providing a huge base for Murray is the Rattlesnake Wrestling Club, which has always given young grapplers a chance to learn the sport from an early age.

"Twelve of the 18 kids I have on my list right here wrestled in the Rattlesnake Wrestling Club program, whether it was one year or four or five years -- that's where they came from," Murray said. "It's huge."

In the lower weight classes where Mojave is traditionally strong, the Rattlers feature freshmen Jake Evans (31-4), Travis DeGroat (27-4), Donovan Sarno (33-4) and Leo Romero (28-13), along with sophomore Seth Spindler (27-11), one of the four JV zone champions last year.

In the middle five weight classes, Mojave is stronger this season with defending 119-pound state champ Taylor, now tearing it up at 130 pounds (37-9) as a sophomore; Colby Evans (42-4), one of the city's leaders in pins; sophomore Jordan (37-9); junior Jacob Porter (26-5); John Hafen (10-7); and junior Bill Stutzman (39-7), all having great years.

Murray talked about his talent at the middle weight classes.

"DeAndre is a big part of our plan to try and capture a state championship," Murray said. "He really knows when to turn it on. And Bill Stutzman has really come on strong for us this year. Last year, he had a pretty good year, but was struggling to keep his weight down and it caught up with him at regionals when he didn't make weight, so he couldn't wrestle and that killed him. He's turned it around this year and is having a great season."

Rounding out Murray's roster in the upper weight classes are sophomore Alex Proffitt (32-10), senior Alan Berg (35-9), sophomore Reggie Powers (40-5), who was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the Upper Weights at the Centennial Bulldog Grappler, senior Sam Mitchell (27-16), and senior Chris Robison (27-12).

Murray talked about what makes Powers so special.

"His athleticism is far above anybody else's," Murray said. "I don't know what else to say. He's is just a pure athlete. Period. And he just has this intimidating build and look to him that is a big part of the factor. When he steps on the mat, they're just scared to death of him."

Heading into the homestretch of the season, Murray was citing the depth of his Rattlers roster as what might be the biggest difference come state.

"That's our strong point right now," Murray said. "We don't have a lot of superstars that we expect state titles from, but we do have a lot of quality kids who should place at state."

The 2006 Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association's Class 4A state wrestling championships will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at Cimarron-Memorial High School, 2301 N. Tenaya Way.