By: Andrew Shanks – The Daily Iowan
The date was Nov. 13.
Two Iowa wrestlers had just finished demolishing a field of competitors and were slated to meet head-on for the 125-pound title at the Spartan Open in Dubuque. So which one won?
Neither and both.
“We decided that it would be best if we were co-champions, “said freshman Thomas Magnani, who split the title with older brother Lucas Magnani. “We didn’t need to wrestle against each other to prove anything. We were both satisfied with the result.”
They weren’t born with this compassion for one another. Rather, it was instilled in them in their youth. Parents Thomas (Sr.) and Helen Magnani – the former a high-school teacher, the latter a guidance counselor – taught their children that they were brothers first and athletes second.
“I thought that the decision to have them share the championship was the same decision that I would have made, “Thomas Magnani Sr. said. “I mean, sure, there’s a sibling rivalry and a lot of competitiveness. They would want to win against each other if they were playing chess. But the individual title didn’t mean much to either of them, especially because Thomas is redshirting, and they were brothers before anything else.”
For the Magnani family, wrestling is as much of a genetic trait as hair and eye color. Older cousin Jack wrestled for Iowa in the mid-90s and now is an assistant high-school wrestling coach on Long Island, N.Y. One of his main competitors on the New York island – Half Hollow Hills High School wrestling coach Thomas Magnani Sr.
“Jack used to come over when I was 5 and my brother was 8, and he would teach us a wrestling move and then leave, “said Thomas Magnani Jr. “When he’d come back a few days later, my brother and I would show him how much we practiced the move.
“We would be having family over, and we’d all be out scrapping on the front lawn. It was never really talked about, then, but it was known that wrestling was a major part of the family.”
Lucas Magnani, a junior transfer from Brown University and the Iowa starter at 125 pounds, chose the Ivy League over the Midwest in part because his parents stressed academics first. However, Lucas Magnani, who defeated Northern Iowa’s Seth Wright, 7-3, in his last match, eventually chose Iowa City as his collegiate destination, mostly because of the program’s storied history.
“I went to Brown, because it has a good program and great academics, “he said. “It was really important with my parents that I go to a school with good academics and get a good degree. Iowa offered all that and more, with the wrestling program being as great as it is.”
Even with all of Lucas Magnani’s success this season, his best move for coach Jim Zalesky’s squad might have been the recruiting pitch he gave to Thomas Magnani Jr., one of the most highly-touted high-school seniors in the nation a year ago.
“It came down to my going to Virginia Tech, Hofstra, or Iowa, “Thomas Magnani Jr. said. “The comfort level that I had with my brother being at Iowa was probably why I decided on Iowa. I saw how much he liked it here, and that definitely rubbed off on me, too.”
And the Iowa wrestling program has rubbed off on their parents as well. Although they can’t regularly make the half-country trek to Iowa City, when they do make it to a meet, it’s a spectacle.
“I have always loved wrestling, “Thomas Magnani Sr. said. “But we’re passionate about Iowa wrestling now. A lot of people think we’re crazy, but I’m so proud of my kids that I have become a fanatic. We try to just show support, but, sometimes, it’s a little over the top.”
E-mail DI reporter Andrew Shanks at:
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