Michael and Matthew Nguyen remain competitive with each other. But trust them when they say their rivalry is subdued compared to previous years.
“When he lost, I would rub it in his face a little bit,” Michael said.
“My freshman year, we would almost fight each other after a match,” Matthew confirmed.
Yes, when Michael Nguyen won his match but Matthew lost, it could turn ugly for a few minutes.
Deep down, though, the twin brothers from Evergreen High School understood then, and now, that they fuel each other.
“Every time I wrestle him, it makes me better, but it’s really hard,” said Michael, a 103-pounder who won a regional title last season and finished fourth at the Class 4A state tournament.
Matthew is a 112-pounder who finished second at regionals last season and was one win away from placing at Mat Classic.
Now juniors, they are pushing to improve upon their sophomore campaigns, pushing each other to greater heights.
“Win the state title,” Michael said as the objective for the 2010-11 season.
“My goal is to be in the state finals,” Matthew said.
Evergreen coach Mark Castle said those are legitimate goals.
“They are a special kinds of kids who come in with lots of talent and get better every time they step on the mat,” Castle said. “They have an internal will to win.”
The Nguyen brothers, along with several other wrestling standouts, will be showing off their skills today at the Pacific Coast Wrestling Championships at Hudson’s Bay High School. The two-day tournament, hosted by Evergreen’s wrestling program, features 34 teams from the Northwest. Finals are tentatively scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Castle said this week’s tournament should help Michael receive more attention from those who rank the wrestlers throughout the state.
Castle said Michael should be No. 1. The three who placed higher than him at state last year have moved to other weight classes. The coach said it is just an oversight, one that likely will be corrected if Michael performs well at Pac Coast.
Michael Nguyen said he does not care about the ranking. In fact, he prefers to lay low.
That’s getting more difficult, though. Coming into this week, Michael has not gone the distance in any of his matches this season — with every win by pin or technical fall.
“Another goal of mine is not to let anybody score a point (on me) unless I give it to them,” Michael said.
A long season of wrestling, of one-on-one battles, can put a strain on any athlete. Even the best wrestlers lose their focus from time to time. Nobody wrestles a perfect match every time out, but Castle said the Nguyen brothers always get the most out of their matches.
“Even when they’re not wrestling their best, they never have a bad match because they always come to compete,” the coach said.
One of the reasons is they have always competed against each other. Even now, as they have matured, neither one will back down.
Michael has had more success in terms of regional and state placings, but Matthew said the difference is the weight class.
“If we were to wrestle, I’d have the weight advantage, and I’m tougher than him,” Matthew said.
“I’ll give him the weight advantage, but not the tougher part,” Michael responded.
They do make great teammates, though. It is a demanding sport, and it would be easy to take a short-cut or take a day off from training once in a while.
But at the Nguyen home, there is always a teammate there with a watchful eye.
“It’s good, but it’s annoying,” Michael acknowledged.
“He definitely helps me,” Michael said. “He might say, ‘If you eat that, you’re going to be over (the weight limit).’ Or, ‘If you eat that, get ready to go on a run.’ I think it’s a big deal, because it’s not easy.”
“It is a hard sport,” Matthew said. “It’s a sport most people wouldn’t do. What other sport makes you run until 2 in the morning, pitch black, and you don’t know where you are.”
The Nguyen brothers have each other to lead the way. When one lacks motivation, the other is a needed jump-start.
The two started the sport in the sixth grade. As Castle said, they are naturally gifted athletes, but they also strive to improve.
Not surprisingly from the competitive brothers, it’s the fear of losing that keeps the drive alive.
“I remember the first time I lost,” Michael said. “Wow. I hated that feeling. It’s as if you work your butt off for no reason. Losing makes me want to work harder.”
Matthew knew he was better than average when he won the district tournament as a seventh grader. But just as importantly, he remembers losing as an eighth-grader, failing to win at district.
“Not a good feeling,” Matthew said.
Sure, Michael probably rubbed it in that day. They probably needed a few minutes away from each other to calm down.
But by the end of the day, they were still brothers, still teammates.
Today, Michael and Matthew Nguyen are still looking to push each other to make their championship dreams a reality.
