By Mike Finn, W.I.N. Editor

As Bob Cuthbertson sees it, one of his sons, Chase, has yielded many times to the honors earned by his twin, brother, Kyle. It even dates back to when Kyle was born five minutes ahead of Chase in September of 1989.

            “That’s reflective of their personalities,” Bob said. “I kid Chase that he was a little more laid back and let Kyle come out first. They are very supportive of each other. If one of them does get a big accolade, the one who doesn’t get recognized is happy for the one who did.”

            There have been plenty of honors bestowed on the youngest of six Cutbertson brothers, who ended quite a family legacy at Scottsboro (Alabama) High School, where Kyle and Chase each won five state championship; giving the family of Bob and Teresa Cuthbertson a total of 20 state titles captured by the sextet; the most ever in the country by one family.

            But not only did Kyle and Chase win this season — they combined to go 119-1 — but they also pinned 108 or 90 percent of those victims. That broke the national record of 83, set by Skyler (48) and Scott (35) Woods, of Mesquite , NV Virgin Hills High School in the 2000-01 season.

            For their efforts, Kyle and Chase will also share the Junior Schalles Award, given to the nation’s best high school pinner by W.I.N. and the AAU.

            “We’re extremely excited to name the Cuthbertsons brothers as our Jr. Schalles Award winners,” said W.I.N. publisher Bryan Van Kley. “They are high-quality kids, on and off the mat, and they brought wrestling to a new level in the state of Alabama. The amount of pins they were able to rack up in a year amazes me.

            “In addition, when you look at the amount of time they are on the mat, it’s very clear their level of dominance and that they’re looking for the fall from the minute that first whistle blows. That creates excitement with the fans, and it’s exactly what we’re looking for in our Junior Schalles Award winners.”

            On statistics alone, Kyle had the better wrestling season for Scottsboro High School as the 171-pound senior won his fifth Alabama state high school championship, where he pinned all three of his foes — including and finished year flattening 58 victims in an undefeated 61-0 season. Those 58 pins broke the national record of 57 set by former Michigan State All-American Nick Simmons when he wrestled for Williamston (Mich.) High School. Simmons won the first Junior Schalles Award in 1999.

            “I don’t care if you wrestle in Guam, 58 pins is an incredible number, especially the fact that it is a national record.” said the award’s creator Wade Schalles, who set a college pin record at Clarion (Pa.) State, where he won two NCAA championships (1972-73) and pinned 109 opponents while compiling a 153-6 career record.             Chase, whose fifth Alabama state championship came at 160 pounds, was just behind his brother by pinning 50 opponents — including all three foes at the 2008 state tournament — and compiling a 58-1 mark. But the fact that he pinned his three opponents in less time (1:24) than Kyle (3:00) he earned the award for most in pins in shortest period of time for the second year in a row.

            Bob said his boys picked up their pinning reputation from their high school coach, Chris Staton, who came to Scottsboro five years ago.

            “Before some of the coaches didn’t have a system,” Bob said. “Coach (Staton) started working series with them the whole objective was to to pin.”

            The most popular of pins by the Cuthbertsons was the cradle.

            “We drilled it a lot,” said Kyle, whose first state championship came at 112 pounds as an eighth grader in 2004. “We did a lot of cradle series, whether it’s a cross face cradle and we do different near-side and far-side cradles. It was an easy move to get.”

            “We both did cross face but I did a lot of nearside cradles and ran them over,” said Chase, who started his high school career as a 103-pound state champion. “Our coach has a pin award for the team and it’s really competitive for everyone.”

            They both created pinning opportunities with two different styles.

            “Chase is faster than me and can out-slick people,” said Kyle. “With me being stronger, I was able to force it. Chase is just as strong as me, but doesn’t use it on he mat as much as me.”

            “We always kid each other that we’re going to out-pin the other,” said Chase.

            “Kyle and Chase are good kids,” said their dad. “They enjoy having fun and neither one of them are over-serious. I like to kid them that if I leave the room and come back and see they are watching TV, the Cartoon Network is on or some Japanese version of American Gladiator.”

            Kyle and Chase also accomplished these mat honors after their four older brothers already created a legacy. It started in 1997 when their oldest brother, Rob, current age 29, tried wrestling as a sophomore and junior at Scottsboro where he was also an all-state cross country runner. Scott Cuthbertson, 26, took up the sport in eight grade and eventually won two state championships in 1998 and 1999 at 103 and 112 pounds, respectively.

            The third Cuthbertson, Jeff, 25, became Scottboro’s first three-time state champion: winning his first title at 112 pounds in 1998 and final championship at 171 pounds in 2001.

            The fourth son, Michael, 21, topped his brother’s record by winning five state championship. The first came at 103 pounds in 2001 when he became the first eighth grader to win a state title and his fifth championship came at 160 pounds in 2005 when he also became just the second wrestler in the state of Alabama to win a Junior National championship in freestyle.

            “We just tried to be humble, I guess,” said Chase in how he and Kyle handle the pressure of duplicating their brothers effort. “We just did it and did not worry about the family name.”

            When it comes to wrestling, Kyle and Chase were the best in the nation as a duo act. By compiling a 542-18 combined record — Kyle was 275-9 and Chase was 267-9 — they broke the record for most victories by twins. The previous record was 368, by Joe and John DeBarbieri, of Portville Central HS in New York. Individually, Kyle and Chase rank third and fifth, respectively, and trailed just Travis Sullivan (304 wins for Monticello Wayne County in Kentucky, 2003-08) and Colton Palmer (284 win for Durham Riverside in North Carolina, 2003-07), according to Wrestling USA magazine.

            They also excelled on the national level as both wrestlers won NHSCA Sophomore national championships in 2006 and Kyle finished second in the NHSCA Junior championship in 2007.

            Both Cuthbertsons had a chance to win earn NHSCA All-American honors as seniors — the each reached the quarterfinals where Kyle lost to the tournament’s OW Ben Bennett of Michigan and Chase fell to 160-pound national runner-up  Steve Bosak of Pennsylvania — when they chose to pull out of the tournament on Sunday because of religious views. 

            Growing up the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they did not compete on Sundays and now will sit out two years to serve on a Mormon Mission before deciding on a college.

            “Like all of my brothers and dad, they all served the church,” said Kyle, adding they will find out in September where they will fulfill their commitment. “It was something that we always knew that we would do. It was our decision and could go to any place in the world.”

            “I’m going to try and not think about wrestling,” said Chase.

            Their brother, Michael, recently completed his Mormon mission and has enrolled at Boise State, where he hopes to compete immediately for the Broncos.

            “(The mission is) a great experience,” said Kyle, adding that his father will help them in with future college plans. “You don’t worry about wrestling when you are out there. It makes you more mature.”

            That’s one more honor pinned on these twins.