Rare triplets start Asics Tiger Junior Nationals in dominating fashion
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Jason Bryant (USA Wrestling)
07/22/2001
Dibbern, Dibbern and Dibbern might sound like your average mid-western law firm, but at the Asics Junior Greco-Roman Nationals in Fargo, N.D., the Team Indiana trio went through their first round opponents like Johnny Cochran cross-examining a shady witness. Fierce, quick and painful. Jason, Jeremy and Justin Dibbern, rising seniors at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis, Ind. are three of the rarest of wrestlers. Brothers are very common in wrestling, even twins, but rarely do triplets compete in the same sport and at the same level as the Dibberns. "They're brawlers," said Team Indiana assistant coach Eric Lopshire. "They are three of the most dangerous kids (on the mat) that I've worked with." At about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday in the first session of the Junior Greco-Roman competition, Jeremy Dibbern took to mat 18. He dispensed of his first opponent with a first period technical fall. In a span of 10 minutes, all three triplets had beaten their opponents, Justin with a technical fall on mat 15 and just seconds later, 10 seconds to be exact, Jason followed with a pin. "I just wanted to start us off right and set the tone," said Jeremy. Jason, the eldest by a mere six minutes over Justin and 13 minutes older than Jeremy, commented, "We beat each other up a lot. We call it practice." Lopshire also said the three expect more out of each other than normal wrestlers. "Wrestling is an individual sport, where you only expect the best out of yourself," said Lopshire. "With these guys, they all expect the same out of each other." Lopshire spent his time in the corner of Jeremy, who had the first of the three victories. Matt Puckett, in the corner during Justin's victory said, "They always beat up on each other, its their own round-robin." When the question was raised of who the better of the three is, Jason and Justin glared at each other and Jason said, "Uh, we're all about the same." Both followed with a smile. For Perry Meridian High School this past season, Jason manned 130 pounds and Jeremy followed at 135 pounds, but Justin had to be different. He didn't follow suit and wrestled at 145 pounds. The Dibberns credit their start in the sport to their older brother, Matthew. "He wrestled, and got us into it about five years ago," said Jeremy. In Fargo, all three qualified for Greco-Roman and none elected to wrestle freestyle. This is the first time any of the triplets have been in the same weight class as each other. Both Jason and Justin are at 154 pounds, while Jeremy is wrestling at 143 pounds. "Talk about setting the tone, they came out and dominated," said Lopshire of the first session victories by all three wrestlers. "We all root for each other and cheer for each other, no different than any other brothers, but we feel closer than others," said Jason. Naturally. "We even had 'Dibbern Wrestling' sweatshirts made," said Jason.