By Mike Finn

For most people, a dime is worth ten cents. For the Soria family of Kings Park, N.Y., the coin is priceless.                       

“I have a little Altoids tin full of dimes,” said Robert Soria, the father of twin wrestlers Mike and Max, both ranked in the top 10 nationally at 103 pounds, as seniors for Kings Park High School in Suffolk County on Long Island. “It’s kind of an odd thing. My mom is an old-fashioned Italian and she believes a dime is my father saying hello from his resting place.

            “When I find a dime, I give it to the coaches. My wife has one; the kids have them in their wrestling shoes. It’s a superstitious trait but it seems to be working. It’s taken a life of its own.”

            The silvery coin also helps solves the family’s No. 1 dispute: Who wins when the brothers are scheduled to meet on the wrestling mat.

            “We don’t believe anything good comes from the kids fighting,” said the elder Soria. “They are extremely competitive. Sometimes, tournaments would let them be co-champions, but as a rule one would forfeit to the other.”

            And that’s what happened more than ten times the past two years as the brothers, born two minutes apart on Sept. 13, 1991, decided to wrestle at the same weight during their high school career.

            Unfortunately, the Soria’s dime philosophy was also forced to determine a winner between the twins during the quarterfinal round of last year’s New York state wrestling tournament in Albany, N.Y.

            After beating first-round foes, the Sorias were scheduled to meet in the quarterfinals.

            “They (NYSPHSAA officials) would not move them,” recalled Robert. “Mike was the No. 1 seed and we tried to trade it with the No. 16 seed and no one wanted any part of that.”

            It’s unknown if Franklin Roosevelt’s face on the coin landed up or down, but Mike won the toss and later captured two more matches in Times Union Center to claim the 96-pound championship. Max, forced to win four consolation bouts, had to settle for third place.

            “Every time I see a dime, that’s what I think about: the forfeit,” said Max, who found some consolation in 2009 when he finished second in freestyle at the Junior Nationals last summer in Fargo, N.D.

            Unlike most state tournaments, New York’s prep wrestlers compete in the individual tournament representing one of 11 New York sections and not their schools. That allowed the Sorias to qualify at the same weight in 2009 in Section XI. (Corey Rasheed of Longwood High, who finished second to Mike in last year’s final, also represented that section in Albany after he beat Max in the semifinals of the Sectional meet; forcing Max to be seeded low in the state tournament.)

            This year, the boys moved up a weight but have rarely faced the dime dilemma as Mike has wrestled many tournaments at 112 pounds. But they will each enter the postseason tournament at 103.

            If the are forced to face each other again in postseason, especially in the state tournament, Max already knows “it’s his turn,” to win … and without the need of a coin flip.

            In a sense, if one Soria wins, so too does the other for nearly everything about these twins is identical.

            “Nobody can tell them apart,” said Robert. “There is a half a pound difference and a quarter of an inch. The only thing that is different is that one (Max) of them is left-handed and the other (Mike) is right-handed and that their dimples are on opposite sides.

            “This year, we made them get different shoes. Mike wears black and maroon and Max wears silver and black.”

            Trying to find differences in the boys once led to nicknames.

            “I wore my hair flattened down and his hair was spiked,” said Max. “(Friends)  called us, ‘Flatsey Maxie’ and ‘Spikey Mikey.’ ”

             “Friends will say that I’m nicer and Max is the mean one,” joked Mike and added, “My brother has an earring and I don’t.”

     (You can read the rest of this article by subscribing to WIN Magazine. Either contact our office at 1-888-305-0606 or subscribe through this website by selecting the “Subscribe” section on our front page.)