Springers Often Go To The Mat Brothers Want A National Wrestling Title For Nic

At this rate, these two Springers will never appear on the Jerry Springer Show.

They get along too well.

North Idaho College wrestlers Justin and Brandon Springer are brothers, best friends and roommates.

“Yeah, they live together,” coach Pat Whitcomb mused, “because nobody else can stand to live with them. They both share the same brain.”

The last time they fought each other was when Justin, a year older than Brandon, was in ninth grade.

“My dad had enough of us fighting all the time, so he told us to go at it,” Justin recalled. “We ended up breaking a kitchen window. That didn’t go over very well.”

They’re better as tag-team partners than opponents, Brandon said. “I’d say I’ve had to come to his rescue a few times. We’ve gotten in a few scrapes. When that happens, it’s usually pretty one-sided in our favor. We don’t go looking for any thing, but we don’t take anything either.”

Ditto for on the mat. Brandon, a sophomore at 165 pounds, was second in last year’s NJCAA tournament. Justin, a redshirt sophomore at 157 pounds, lost in the semifinals. Both played a big part in NIC sharing the team title with Lassen College.

Brothers they are; clones they are not. Justin is a more outgoing; Brandon slightly reserved.

Justin sports short hair; Brandon’s longer mane has earned him the nickname “Sideshow Bob,” in honor of the character on “Simpsons.”

Justin gets ribbed for being terminally homesick. He has a girlfriend at home in Monroe, Wash., that he plans to marry. He almost left the team last spring. Brandon’s girlfriend is NIC basketball player Kelly Middlesworth. He seems content in Coeur d’Alene.

Brandon definitely wants to continue his career at a four-year school. Justin isn’t sure if this season will be his last.

They possess different wrestling styles, too. Justin, who is more adept at Greco-Roman style than collegiate, is conservative and allows few points. Brandon’s offense is full throttle.

Imagine the possibilities if Justin’s defense merged with Brandon’s offense.

“It’d be pretty lethal,” Brandon said. “Justin is a real good scrambler. When people get in on his legs, he usually scores off the other’s mistakes. He wins all his matches by a couple of points.”

“Brandon’s more of a take-down artist compared to me,” Justin said. “He shoots a lot more and he’s pretty quick for his size, so he gets in on the bigger guys.”

To some degree, the Springers owe their success to each other. When Justin had withdrawn from classes and ready to head home, Brandon was constantly in his ear.

“I wanted him to stay, but it was his decision and you can’t make someone do what they don’t want to do,” Brandon said. “He’s old enough to do what he wants, but I was talking to him a lot about staying.”

For reasons beyond the fact that Justin is the better cook.

“We’ve been workout partners since we were little kids,” Justin said. “It’s helped immensely. This is probably the first year we haven’t worked out as much together, probably because we have more middleweights than last year.”

They became inseparable in junior high, following the divorce of their parents.

“We were on our own more and we became a lot closer in high school,” Brandon said.

Growing up, they occasionally faced each other in freestyle tournaments.

“If I was lazy, I’d end up wrestling heavier,” Justin said. “What we’d do is end up in the finals and we’d take turns throwing each other just to see who could get the best throw.”

At NIC, Brandon usually wrestles immediately after Justin. That’s often beneficial, considering Justin is 22-9 this season.

“Whenever he comes off a win, I think I’m more excited and motivated to get after my guy,” Brandon said.

Both should be fully motivated tonight. NIC faces Ricks at 7 at Christianson Gym. Each lost to a Ricks wrestler in mid-November.

Whitcomb said the brothers have been crucial for team chemistry. They bring comic relief to mind-numbing practices and long road trips.

They’re not angels, Whitcomb stressed, but their antics are usually harmless.

“They’re fun to have in the room; they’re both captains,” Whitcomb said. “Whenever anything comes up, if one of them isn’t involved, they know who is. If I’ve got to find something out, I get a hold of them.

“They’re just a little goofy.”

But good for each other.

“It’s different when you wrestle each other; you get a little frustrated,” Justin said. “We go at it a little harder because of that, but that’s not a negative because we end up pushing each other.

“Whatever happens, stays in the room. We don’t bring it home all the time. I’ve seen brothers fight a lot and I don’t understand, because that’s your family.”

They share the same goal: Winning a national championship. A title would seem even better if younger brother, Tyson, a junior at Monroe High, were to win a state prep title the same weekend as the NJCAA event.

“That’d be a dream come true,” Brandon said.

Ricks at NIC Today: 7 p.m. at Christianson Gym. Facts: NIC is rated No. 5 in the latest NJCAA poll, Ricks is No. 1. … Ricks defeated NIC 31-14 in mid November in Rexburg, Idaho… . After losing to Ricks, NIC lost the next day to Northern Montana, which visits NIC Saturday at 2 p.m.