Most siblings wrestle each other growing up to decide who gets the remote or the last slice of pizza. But for the Binghamton wrestling team’s freshman twins, Vincent and Anthony DePrez, rolling around got them sent to podiums more often than it got them sent to their rooms.
In person, the identical twins are nearly indiscernible from each other, excepting the placement of a few bruises and an eight-pound difference that puts Vincent in the 157-pound class and Anthony at 165. But with both coming from a household in which wrestling is a family affair, the twins reflect more than just each other in the circle.
“When I was younger, it looked like a cool sport to do,” Anthony said. “My dad always did it, so I just thought, ‘Why not?’”
That question would lead Anthony and his twin to six combined All-City selections, four state-finalist finishes and a combined .881 winning percentage during their scholastic campaign at Hilton High School just outside of Rochester.
“I think the last two years of high school really made us want to get better at [wrestling] and push harder each year to do the best we can,” Vincent said.
Both would end their scholastic careers with 46 victories in 2013-14, with only one blemish between the two, when Anthony fell in the 152-class State Final. But the duo didn’t always plan to continue their wrestling careers together after the last mats were rolled at the Times Union Center in Albany, New York.
Initially, Vincent sought to join the ranks at Army as a Black Knight, while Anthony looked at another Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association foe in Bucknell. But in the summer of their senior year, they both elected to embark on their collegiate journey donning green and white.
“I think it [was because Binghamton] was pretty close to home,” Vincent said. “It’s a great school and the coaches were awesome. I just thought it was a good fit.”
Anthony echoed his brother’s reasoning.
“We liked the coaches and the guys on the team,” Anthony said.
So it had nothing to do with sticking together?
“Maybe a little bit since we’ve always been together,” Anthony conceded.
Currently, the transition to the collegiate level has been smooth for both. Anthony is redshirting at 165 behind starting redshirt freshman Zack Zupan. Vincent has taken the starting spot at 157, most recently tallying a 5-1 decision win in BU’s 20-16 team victory over Princeton on Friday.
One might think that the lone 157-pound freshman on a Binghamton team that features five wrestlers in that weight class would be intimidated. But for the DePrez twins, youth has proven to be an advantage. Back in Hilton, the third DePrez brother — Louie — is already turning heads with an All-Rochester selection as a high school freshman in 2014. And Sammy, the fourth of the DePrez brothers, earned his first varsity win two weeks ago, as an eighth-grader.
Binghamton head coach Matt Dernlan, the third son in a four-brother wrestling family, initially heard of the DePrez family during his first year as head coach at BU in 2012.
“I knew they had the tools,” Dernlan said. “We all knew they had the fight and they had the attitude to compete at this level.”
But something familiar rang with the head coach about the twins from Hilton. Dernlan’s two older brothers, Jeff and Steve, combined for four Ohio high school state championships between 1985 and 1988. Between 1989 and 1993, Matt and his younger brother, Tim, brought home six more state titles to their hometown of West Liberty, Ohio as Matt later joined Steve at Liberty University. So when it came time to recruit the DePrez brothers, Dernlan saw potential.
“I think we saw the same familiar atmosphere that I grew up with,” Dernlan said. “A really tight-knit family, the boys are all best friends and fight for each other and they also push each other … they’re great character kids. They’re committed to doing all the right things.”
In the class of 2014’s introductory press release this May, Dernlan wrote that he saw the twins being potential “mainstays” in their respective weight classes for years to come. While both brothers agreed with the coach’s projection, Anthony expressed hopes of progressing the Bearcats by being named an All-American. Vincent’s path, on the other hand, was a bit heftier:
“[Wrestling] hard each year, hopefully going to the national tournament and placing there, and being a national champ,” Anthony said.
And finding the success Vincent has in his first year at the collegiate level, that may not be too lofty a goal.