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Fraternal twins have much to prove
Wrestlers gearing up for college

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/12/06BY MATTHEW KIRDAHY
STAFF WRITER

At the mention of two of his favorite wrestlers, Christian Brothers Academy head coach Mike Baldi will tell you, "I love 'em."

Fraternal twin brothers David and Anthony Chirichello are in their senior year wrestling for the Colts, their fourth season on the varsity.

"I think they could be All-Americans," Baldi said.

By now, the Chirichello brothers have more than made their mark in the program, but they feel they still have much to prove, especially with college on the horizon.

"I could be wrestling a little better," said David, who started slow this season with a 3-3 record.

The 145-pound starter knows he should be better as a former District 22 champion. David won his early-season matches at the CBA-hosted Colt Classic and against Freehold Township High School. After that, he hit a wall at the Hawk Classic at Manchester and is trying to bounce back.

"The season ends in March, so I've got time," David said. "It's more mental than anything. I know I could hit all my stuff, I just wasn't fully confident (at the Hawk Classic)."

Last week, David lost a tough match, 8-2, to Ocean Township High School's Joe Falco.

David said he knows he'll improve and is more concerned with the district and state championships, where he'll probably see Falco again. Victories at that level could benefit him since he has applied to Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pa.), which has a Division I wrestling program.

His other choice is Villanova University (Pa.), to which he's been accepted early, but there's a catch — it has no wrestling team. So he's considering hanging up his singlet for good.

"I've got to think about my future, too," said David, understanding the rigors of wrestlingat the collegiate level while carrying a load of classes. "They say when you wrestle in college that becomes your major and you minor in something else."

On the contrary, his brother, Anthony, is certain he will wrestle in college, but the question is where.

Anthony, who weighs in at 171 pounds, is 7-1 this season, his lone loss to Ocean's Kyle Kiss, 5-2, last week. By this time next fall, he said he wants to be wrestling at either Springfield College (Mass.) or The College of New Jersey, less than an hour drive from his Manalapan home.

"It all depends on how this year goes," Anthony said, following his loss to Kiss, who he knows he'll meet at districts. "My junior year wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. This year I plan on making up for it."

Both of the college programs that piqued Anthony's interest are Division III and he has met both of the coaches, who are well aware of his aspirations.

"I definitely want to be an All-American," Anthony said. "I really think I can, too, and those schools are my best shots."

Baldi said he endorses any of his wrestlers to compete in college, but they have to remain realistic about their athletic goals and personal future.

"It's very, very important where the wrestler goes," Baldi said. "There are 80 Division I programs in the country and any successful high school wrestler who wants to go to D-I, sometimes I try to talk them out of it because he could be great in high school and he'll sit the bench in D-I, while in a D-II or D-III school he'll start. It's too demanding of a sport not to be in the lineup."

Whether or not they continue to wrestle, as long as the Chirichello boys are happy, their parents are proud.

"Four years at CBA went fast," said Tony Chirichello, David and Anthony's dad. "What can I say, I'm proud of my kids. They work hard at sports and academics. In March, the school has a senior day and we're not looking forward to that because that's kind of like a closing, because they're not coming back."

Separate schools means the Chirichello brothers won't be wrestling together anymore, unless it's in their parents' living room on holiday breaks.

"It winds up being more of a fight than anything else," David said, laughing. "We'd hurt each other before we could score a point."

But they've been heading in different directions since their freshman year, when David started at 103 pounds, while Anthony started at 112 pounds.

"We've been wrestling together for so long," David said. "We know each other so well that we don't really gain anything by wrestling each other since we know each other's styles."

While wrestling remains an individual sport on the mat, to the Chirichellos it's still about the team, and in their last year, the Colts' success.

"I think we'll do pretty well," David said. "I think we need to mature as a team. Everyone has to be firing at the same time. One kid can't just give up. You have to be peaking to get through the Shore Conference tournament and I think that's where our team will peak. I think top four is what we want. We could hold our own against anyone."