8A - Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com ICI
An unusual path for three Michigan brothers
By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Wrestling.
To many, it's a sign of broth-
erly love. A way to hash out sibling
rivalries and declare oneself to be
atop the household hierarchy; the
best, the toughest, the macho-est
of all.
Craig and Susan Zeerip saw a
great love for wrestling from their
three sons beginning at an early
age in their Fremont, Mich. home.
However, their sons never outgrew
their wrestling ways.
The couple doesn't have to see
their sons duke it out at home any-
more, though.
Instead, they travel to Ann
Arbor, where their three sons -
redshirt junior Justin, redshirt
freshman Brandon and freshman
Collin - are members of the Mich-
igan wrestling team.
It's nearly unheard of for three
brothers to compete on one team at
such a highlevel, but it's even more
unusual that this family can even
utter the words, "Go Blue."
Craig and Susan are graduates
of Ohio State, where Craig wres-
tled in the mid-1980s - even Jus-
tin and Brandon grew up diehard
Buckeye fans.
These days, they laugh at stories
of getting heckled by classmates
for wearing Buckeye attire.
"Growing up in Michigan, there
were alot of Michigan fans around
us," Justin said. "Especially when
we were growing up, Michigan
was winning a lot in the Michigan-
Ohio State (football) game; we'd
always get crap. People would even
leave messages on the answering
machine."
Only Collin can lay claim to
being a lifelong Wolverine.
From a young age, pictures
showhimsportingMichiganattire
next to his scarlet and gray-clad
brothers.
This season, Justin is 12-7, while
Brandon - the reigning Big Ten
Wrestler of the Week - is 2-1. Col-
lin, meanwhile, is redshirting this
season.
SMALL TOWN ROOTS
The journey to Ann Arbor start-
ed in two small, neighboring towns
three and a half hours west of Ann
Arbor - Hesperiaand Fremont.
Craig and Susan met at Ohio
State and married. After gradu-
ating, they moved to Fremont -
where Craig grew up - and have
since taken over the Zeerip family
business, Heritage Farms, which
provides fresh produce to Meijer.
In 1990, Craigbecame the head
coach of the Hesperia High School
wrestling team, located three
miles from his house. He remained
head coach for the next 15 years,
but .later swapped roles with the
assistant coach prior to Justin's
arrival to high school.
"It's a wrestling community,"
Craig said. "We have a huge fan
base. They love wrestling. There
isn't a lot to do in Hesperia. That's
why I think wrestling does very
well in Hesperia as far as atten-
dance."
Craig estimates that Hespe-
ria draws approximately 700 to
800 fans at the wrestling meets.
To put that into perspective, the
town's population is under 1,000.
The town has two traffic lights
- shocking when you consider
that there are triple that number
of Hesperia alumni who currently
wrestle for Division-I schools.
Though the average graduating
class at Hesperia is only about 50,
six wrestlers are on scholarship at
premiere programs. Sophomore
Dan Yates - a close family friend
of the Zeerips - joins the broth-
ers on the Michigan squad. Philip
Khozein - who lived with the
Zeerips throughout high school -
is a sophomore at Michigan State
and Malcolm Martin is a freshman
at Central Michigan.
Craig didn't really push wres-
tling on his sons, but in 1997 -
after being at practices and meets
for much of his early life - it was
time for eight-year-old Justin to
give it a try.
"I think they all grew up with
it," Craig said. "And then, since
Justin was going to be wrestling,
then they wanted to wrestle too."
And so it began. In no time, six
year-old Brandon and four year-
old Collin were also on the mats.
The kids - who would create
space to wrestle by moving couch-
es in their living room - now cre-
ate bigger things. And what they
left looms even larger.
BIG FISH FROM A SMALL POND
You'd be hard-pressed to find
a family more accomplished and
well rounded than the Zeerips.
Each brother was class valedictori-
an. And on the mats, they earned a
combined 749 wins and nine state
torious - four of which earned
him state titles.
His 260-match win streak and
his 203 career pins are national
(yes, national) records. To add to
his four wrestling state titles, he
also won two in cross-country.
"We probably lefta pretty good
legacy in Hesperia," Collin, the last
brother to leave the town, said.
"Everybody not only realizes the
success we had on the mat, but
they also recognize the success
we had in the classroom. I feel like
everybody can look at it and see,
'That's a really positive legacy."'
champi
Colli
grade-
in wre
and fo
quarter
varsity
travelin
tions a
point-a
wrestli
N
th
of
Bu
onships. BUCKEYE BLOOD TURNING
in - who skipped eighth BLUE
- earned 13 varsity letters In sixth grade - after winning a
stling, golf, cross-country statetournament- Justinbeganto
otball, where he started at believe he had a talent worth pur-
back. That's more than one suing. And in high school, recruit-
sport per season, all while ers began to take notice. But from
ng for wrestling competi- the beginning, it became apparent
nd maintaining a 4.0 grade- that the school he grew up hating
verage. He won three might be the right choice.
ng state titles. "It was funny, one of the assis-
tant coaches (from Michigan) sent
us an email that they're going to
come watch Justin wrestle," Susan
ot following recalls. "And I thought, 'Wouldn't
that be funny if he ended up going
le footsteps to Michigan?' But it worked out
well."'
a successful Justin committed to the Wol-
verines during his senior year,
.ckeye father mainly because of the strong aca-
demics and his comfort with the
coaching staff. And thanks to his
commitment, he's not only trans-
don won two state titles formed a house of Buckeyes into
so starred on the football Wolverines, but he's brought along
- he holds the Hesperia sin- two more prized recruits.
son rushing yards record. "(My dad) would've liked Justin
then there was Justin. to go to Ohio State I'm sure, but at
ut a lot of hard work into the same time, he wanted Justin to
ing)," he said. "I had always do what was best for him," Bran-
up around it, so when I was don said. "There's great academics
man in high school, I just here, so I knew I'd get a great edu-
i to take it one match at a cation. And I like all the coaches,
so I just followed (Justin) here."
he would. From his first The brothers have always been
as a freshman to his state very competitive, whether it came
ionship as a senior, Justin to wrestling, academics, Wii video
lose. Two hundred sixty games or ping-pong. Regardless,
he stepped onto the mats. they've always been very close.
0 times he stepped off vic- Brandon and Justin live together
Bran
and als
team -
gle-sea
And
"I pt
(wrestli
grown
a fresh
wanted
time."
And
match;
champ
didn't
times I
And 26
on campus, and all three speak
highly of the support they pro-
vide each other, whether it's in the
weight room or dealing with per-
sonal issues.
Their success drives each other.
"There was a little bit of pres-
sure to always follow in their foot-
steps," Collin said. "But at the same
time, I tried using that to motivate
me, I'm with them everyday. I'm
working hard with those guys. I
look at it like, 'If they're really suc-
cessful in high school, and they're
really successful in college, why
can't I doit?'"
Though it was initially hard,
the Zeerips - even Susan's side of
the family, who live in the heart of
Buckeye country - can all proudly
sport their maize and blue - at
least during wrestling meets.
But everything changes during
the weekend of The Game.
"(My parents) weren't that
intense about it, but they had some
family friends over who were giv-
ing us more crap," Justin said.
"Down in Ohio, all my (family who
went to Ohio State), they definitely
give us alot more crap."
This Friday, Michigan - and
the Zeerip family - will make the
trip to Columbus, as the Wolver-
ines take on their heated rival.
Interestingly enough, it's alum-
ni night at St. John Arena - mean-
ing all alumni wrestlers, including
Craig, are invited to walk out prior
to the match.
"It's been a lot of fun so far,
because the questions we've got-
ten,they all want to know what I'm
going to wear when I walk out,"
Craig said. "I might look for one
of those shirts that says, 'House
Divided,' but we're all having fun
with it."
The Zeerips will have more
than 20 extended family members
- all Buckeyes at heart - rooting
on the Wolverines. Well, at least
for two of the matches, anyway.
"When it's family, there's never
a question as to who I'm going to
root for," Craig said. "It was a great
college experience for me at Ohio
State, but when the match gets
rolling, the boys will be at heart.
I am an Ohio State Buckeye, but I
will be cheering for the Michigan
Wolverines that day."
° '