Dec. 31, 2002
CLEVELAND -
Had he seen them compete, acclaimed sportswriter and poet Grantland Rice might well have used his immortal prose to describe the passion for wrestling by Cleveland State's twin senior grapplers Phil and Rocco Mansueto (Middletown, N.Y./ Middletown), both two-time NCAA qualifiers.
They are not shy about their love for their sport.
"It's the one-on-one competition," said Phil, who has been ranked as high as eighth by WrestlingReport.com at 133 pounds. "You alone are on the mat with your opponent, and winning or losing is up to you."
"It's a true battle," agreed CSU's 125-pounder, Rocco, in his third year as the Vikings' co-captain. "Two kids who believe in their own abilities put everything aside and go out there for seven minutes."
He continued. "There's obviously so much that goes into it physically, but mentally it's even more. When you're done you feel like you've been in a war, but when your hand is raised, it's the greatest feeling."
Both brothers have experienced that "greatest feeling" many times over. Phil ended last season at 15-6, with 11 decisions and one major decision. He captured the Eastern Wrestling League Championship at 133 pounds, becoming the first Viking in seven years to earn a league crown. Rocco ended with an 18-8 record, with 12 decisions and three major decisions.
Their outstanding showings led to an invitation to compete alongside wrestlers from Ohio University, Findlay University and Heidelberg College with the Southwestern Wrestling Club at the XII Annual Grand Prix Sicily 2002 in Palermo, Italy, last September, facing teams from throughout Europe. Phil won all four of his matches with pins, while Rocco won with two pins and two decisions, helping the Southwestern Wrestling Club to a first-place finish.
The twins, whose parents are Italian, were very impressed with their ancestral home.
"It was awesome to get a taste of where my family is from," said Rocco, who has been ranked as high as 12th by TheWrestlingMall.com. "What blew me away was walking through the streets of Palermo and seeing how people are there-how they dress, how they live. I remember writing in my journal, 'You'd better appreciate this.' You want to remember how you got here."
Though it is almost unbelievable when considering their many successes on the mat, the Mansuetos fell into wrestling almost by accident.
"I started in eighth grade because I'd been cut from the basketball team," recalled Phil. "I really didn't get into it until the end of my sophomore year in high school, because I'd lost in the state finals and it really bothered me. Rocco lost the qualifying meet for the finals, and that bothered him, too, so together we picked it up and really started working."
As high school wrestlers, the Mansuetos got involved in the wrestling club at West Point, which was run by then-Army Head Coach Jack Effner. When he moved on to become the head coach at Cleveland State at the end of the twins' senior year, he recruited them to join the Vikings, and their high regard for Effner made the decision an easy one.
"Coach Effner would do anything for his team," Phil said. "He leads by example. He's a very good role model."
Rocco added, "Coach Effner stresses family and academics and he knows you get things done with hard work. He's extremely disciplined, and he keeps the team in line, which is good for us. That's how he has turned the program around so fast. He looks out for us and builds relationships between the coaches and athletes. I wish more people could see the huge turn this program has taken. It has been a pleasure to wrestle for that guy."
Effner's squad certainly has this wrestling season at CSU off to a good start. The Vikings placed third at the 2002 SUNY Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Showcase Wrestling Classic in Rochester, N.Y. on Nov. 16. Phil lost 3-2 in the championship match to Oklahoma's Will Durden, while Rocco beat Oklahoma's highly-touted Bo Maynes to win the championship at 125.
"That has definitely been a highlight of my season so far," Rocco said.
Another was the Vikings' 19-12 win over #15 nationally-ranked Edinboro on December 5.
"We hadn't beaten them in 12 years," Phil noted. "Our guys were always good enough to compete well, and now they actually believe it."
"Beating Edinboro didn't seem realistic until this year," Rocco agreed. " We have a tough team and we've been waiting for a chance to set college wrestling on fire, and this meet may have been our chance."
The Vikings are on their way: the Dec. 17 W.I.N. Magazine ranking listed Cleveland State at 24th, while the National Wrestling Coaches Associattion poll on Dec. 11 had the Vikings at 23rd.
Effner's emphasis on family has not been lost on the twins. The brothers are close to their parents, three sisters and two brothers as well as their grandmother, who lives only a few blocks away from their house in Middletown, about an hour north of Manhattan.
"She's the center of our family," Phil said of his grandmother.
"When we go home, it's to see them," Rocco added.
Rocco will graduate from CSU this spring with a degree in psychology, and is considering graduate school to pursue special education, which is Phil's major.
"I was in elementary education until a year-and-a-half ago," said Phil. "When I worked at a wrestling camp in Minnesota, I spent a lot of time with a young boy who was in a wheelchair, but was a very good wrestler. I worked with him all summer and changed my major to special education that fall."
Phil will student teach in the fall of 2003 and is scheduled to graduate next December.
The Mansuetos have spent their entire lives and wrestling careers together, and they would not have it any other way.
"It's great to have always had a good partner," Phil said of Rocco, who returned the compliment. "It means everything to me when he slaps my hand, wishes me luck before I go out there," he said. "It gives me all the confidence in the world."
Though the brothers are identical twins, Rocco's array of tattoos distinguishes him from Phil.
"I only meant to get one," he laughed, "and it was Wile E. Coyote choking Road Runner. It reminded me of how Phil and I used to wrestle each other, choking each other like that."
He now sports a few more, his favorite being the word "Struggle" tattooed down his leg.
"I woke up one morning," he said, "and realized that it's the one thing that everyone, rich or poor, goes through on a daily basis. My tattoos are all about accomplishing the impossible."
Phil shares his brother's ideals, and carries them onto the wrestling mat.
"The difference between the number-one team in the country and every other team is confidence," Phil said. "We've worked to establish something to be proud of."
The Vikings will have the opportunity to continue that goal when they open their home mat season against Kent State on January 8 at 7:30 p.m. at Woodling Gymnasium.
