Wrestling seems to be a way of life for Big Ten teams, either that or it seems to be in some families’ blood. Take for instance Ryan and Josh Churella of Michigan, Andy and Nick Simmons of Michigan State, or C.P. and Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota. Iowa alone has four pairs of brothers on its team: Lucas and Thomas Magnani, Jacob and Justin Neuzil, Cole and Dane Pape and Ben and Brett Stedman.

Meet Illinois’ version: the Tirapelles. Adam, Alex and Troy Tirapelle share two Big Ten titles, have qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships seven different times, winning once and finishing in the top four twice. They have also earned Athlete of the Year Award, have been named All-Americans four times and appear on Illinois’ all-time record’s list 14 separate times.

“I like to think we’ve been important to each other,” Adam (149 lbs) said. “I think we’ve done a lot of good things at Illinois and people enjoyed watching us wrestle, but I think the University has done some great things for us. I made great relationships here and earned my master’s degree. I think it’s reciprocal.”

Adam, Alex and Troy got an early jump on wrestling, learning the ropes from their father, who coached the area high school team and was a Division-II All-American wrestler.

“We were always over (at the high school) running around and tackling each other,” Troy (141 lbs) said. “We started because of him and without him, I highly doubt any of us would be wrestling right now.”

The Tirapelle family placed just as much value on academic awards as they did in athletic honor and prestige. In high school, Alex was his class valedictorian. Troy followed it up two years later, also earning valedictorian honors for his senior class at Clovis High School in Clovis, Calif.

It did not stop in high school, though. Alex, an accounting major, was named an Academic All-American for the third straight year last year, and Adam earned the honors his senior year.

“Academics have always been important to us,” Alex (157 lbs) said. “Our parents instilled those values in us from a young age. They always told us that we were capable of good things in school and expected us to do our best.”

During high school, the brothers also excelled in football. Alex was a two-year letter winner in football, while Troy was a three-time letter winner and two-time all-conference free safety. But football was a non-factor in choosing a school – the Tirapelles were a wrestling family.

“Picking wrestling over football was an easy choice,” Alex said. “I think all my brothers and I had a fun time playing football during high school, but football in high school and football in college are two totally different things.”

For Alex and Troy, their college choices were also simple. Although they were forced to leave the warm California sun, Adam had built a relationship with the program, coaches and wrestlers at Illinois, and it was hard for Alex and Troy to turn away from that.

“It’s like a family-knit unit here,” Alex said. “Everyone is just as important as the next and everybody is expected to do everything together as a whole. The guys are just really close. They hang out together. It’s not just an athletic team, it’s like a family here.”

Although the brothers are nearly 2,000 miles away, they stay close with calls to talk about the most recent meets and sometimes play games online together. After graduating from Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in finance, Adam is working for Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor in Fresno, Calif. Alex and Troy will be the best men at Adam’s wedding this July, an indication of just how close the three are.

After following his oldest brother, Adam, to Illinois, Alex hopes to continue to follow in his footsteps. Adam is the Tirapelle brother who has won a national title.

Alex finished second at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in 2002-2003, and became the first freshman finalist in school history. But things have been disappointing in the postseason since then. The last two years, he entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. In 2003-04, Alex finished fourth after losing to fourth-ranked Jake Percival of Ohio, beating No. 6 Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State in the consolation semifinal round and falling to No. 3 Ryan Bertin of Michigan.

Last year, he failed to place after losing to eighth-ranked Joe Johnston of Iowa and falling to Indiana’s Brandon Backer in the next round.

After an undefeated regular season this year, Alex, barring any upsets, will enter the NCAA Tournament in two weeks as a No. 1 seed for the third straight time and Adam believes it will not result in a letdown.

“I think this could be his year,” Adam said. “People don’t understand how hard it is to win and how much has to be going right at the right time. If Alex is healthy and he has himself prepared, he’s going to win. I’d put any amount of money on that. I think he could’ve won and maybe should’ve won the last two or three years.”

As for Troy, this is his first real season of competition after red-shirting his freshman year. This season, he has gone 21-8, losing three of those matches to opponents ranked in the top-15 – No. 5 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan, No. 8 J Jaggers of Ohio State and No. 11 Tyler Turner of Wisconsin.

“I think he has a lot of the tools to do well,” Adam said of Troy. “It’s kind of like a puzzle. He’s got a lot of the pieces, but he hasn’t put them in place yet. He’s filling in the holes. He knows how to wrestle and has the potential. I think he could go to the Nationals (this season) and might surprise some people.”

Although Adam is one of only 20 Illinois wrestlers to win the NCAA Championships since 1929, Alex said neither he nor Troy feels the pressure to succeed.

“I don’t feel like we’re in direct competition with each other,” Alex said. “We all want to see each other succeed. I think a part of that is that when you see your older or younger brother do well it’s a reflection on you and your entire family.”