Caudill twins hard to pin down

Caudill twins hard to pin down

BUTLER TWP — Blake and Korey Caudill are identical twins.
Even if they weren't, it would be hard to tell them apart on the wrestling mat.
The Butler sophomores are all go, all of the time.
“Their minds are on wrestling from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go to bed,” Golden Tornado junior high coach Don Geibel said.
Blake, Butler's starting 112-pounder, began wrestling in eighth grade. Korey, the Tornado's 119-pounder, didn't get started until last year.
“I gave it a try because a couple of my friends were doing it and wanted me to go with them,” Blake said. “I broke down my first day on the mat.
“It was a lot harder than I thought. I wasn't going to go back,” he added. “Those guys talked me into it and I began liking it as I caught on to it.”
Korey wasn't so quick to get on board. But he said his brother's positive experience made him curious.
Geibel said Korey Caudill “was on the fence” as an eighth-grader when the program brought the mats to the junior high gym for its annual junior high recruiting day.
“Once he was on the mat for 10 minutes, we had him,” Geibel added.
The Caudill brothers haven't been wrestling long, but they're quick learners.
Blake went 32-6 as Butler's 103-pounder last year and qualified for the WPIAL tournament. Korey is 22-10 this season, beating out junior Nick Sutton for the starting spot at 119. Sutton won 21 matches and was a section qualifier last season.
“The Caudill brothers wrestle year-round. They competed in a dual tournament at Lock Haven last summer and Korey beat a defending Maryland state champion,” said Butler High wrestling coach Scott Stoner said. “That's how quickly he's caught on to this sport.”
Barring injury, the Caudills are on their way to becoming the most productive brother act in the history of Butler wrestling. They are the third set of twins, following Jason and Tim Parker, and Ken and James McDeavitt, in the program's history.
The Parker brothers combined for 154 career wins. Both wrestled at Gannon University.
The Caudill brothers already have 75 career victories and both have two full years ahead of them. The Parkers compiled 72 pins between them. Blake Caudill already has 35 pins himself.
“Effort and determination are one and the same between them,” Stoner said. “They're similar in mat skills to the Parkers, but they're more assertive in personality.
“Blake wants to know everything in detail, what might happen with every move on the mat with every little variation,” Stoner added. “Korey just sits there and absorbs everything. Sometimes, as a coach, I wonder if he's paying attention, then he goes into a match and he's got it.”
Fred Powell, retired Slippery Rock University and Slippery Rock High wrestling coach, helps out in Butler's wrestling room, and “the Caudills won't let him leave. They just want to pick his brain,” Stoner said.
“We love having Coach Powell there,” Blake said. “It's like having another coach and learning another style. It's another way of looking at things.”
Cole Baxter and Mike Crawford will graduate this spring as the top two wrestlers on Butler's all-time victory list.
The Caudills want to leave their own mark.
“I've met the Parkers and I know of their achievements,” Blake said. “But I've seen what Cole Baxter has been through at the WPIAL tournament and the state meet.
“I want to match and surpass what he's done. I want to know what it feels like to win a WPIAL championship.”
His brother has similar thoughts.
“Both of us standing on the podium at Hershey. That's what I want to see,” Korey said.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Here is a comparison of Butler sophomore wrestling twins Blake and Korey Caudill and ex- Golden Tornado twins Jason and Tim Parker:
Name - Wins - Pins - Takedowns
Jason Parker - 87 - 44 - 139
Tim Parker - 67 - 28 - 174
Blake Caudil - 53 - 35 - 68