Bond between brothers has strengthened their success on wrestling mat for Rockhurst

Rockhurst wrestler Colin Valdiviez stood in front of his teammates on senior night, and following in their footsteps, he began to recite the favorite memory of his high school career.

He had a host of options from which to choose, none more obvious than when he had won the Missouri Class 4 state championship at 126 pounds last season.

But he went another route.

“He got up there and said his favorite memory was watching his brother win the state championship rather than he winning his own state championship,” Rockhurst coach Armand Aaron said. “That was a pretty cool moment.”

Inside Mizzou Arena in Columbia last February, Colin stood underneath the overhang as he witnessed his twin brother, Cameron, eke out a 1-0 win in the 120-pound title match.

Ten minutes later, Colin followed his lead, winning the 126-pound championship.

“Obviously watching him wrestle, there’s a lot of emotional attachment there,” Colin said. “I love to see him win. I hate to see him lose more than I hate to lose myself.”

There hasn’t been much of that for either of them. And they attribute the lack of losses to their unique bond as kids.

Their wrestling backgrounds date back more than a decade. Colin started at age 5. After a year watching his brother, Cameron signed up, too.

They didn’t need to travel for practice. On many nights, they instead rolled out a mat in the basement of their home, forming the setting for the most intense matches of their childhoods.

All these years later, now seniors, they remain sparring partners in the Rockhurst practice room.

“When you have one really good wrestler, you have to come up with some tricks to keep it competitive for him (at practice),” Aaron said. “When you have two who are so close in size and they know everything about each other, it’s a really big advantage. They make outstanding practice partners.”

Well, most of the time. Not always.

“We’re both so competitive that we are always trying to prove who’s the alpha dog and sometimes we’re trying so hard not to lose to each other that we aren’t really working on the things we should be working on,” Cameron said with a smile. “But at the same time, if we’re always trying to be the best against each other, we never slack off.”

They were so competitive growing up, in fact, that they figured it was best to avoid the matchup in public. So while they were locked in as practice partners at home, they decided to evade the meaningful bouts.

They split into separate weight classes during youth tournaments — a precursor for their high school careers, which has required them to occupy different spots in the Rockhurst lineup.

“We tried to get two gold medals instead of a gold and a silver,” Cameron said.

They earned the two golds last February, each of them completing undefeated seasons on their ways to individual state championships.

A year later, they remain high on the list of favorites in Missouri Class 4 as the postseason starts Friday with district tournaments. Colin, wrestling at 132 pounds, is undefeated once again. Cameron (126 pounds) has lost only twice.

It will represent the final postseason of their high school careers. In the fall, they are headed separate directions for college wrestling. Cameron is attending Air Force. Colin will enroll at Northwestern.

“It’s going to be a lot different because I won’t have my best friend around,” Colin said. “But we will talk. And I’ll be watching him. And he’ll be watching me.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Bond between brothers has strengthened their success on wrestling mat for Rockhurst."