Goal for Gateway's Mininno twins: State wrestling meet

Dante Mininno was in another scramble, whirling around the mat in a sequence that would end with another pin for the undefeated Gateway High School sophomore.

Antonio Mininno was awaiting his own bout in the Region 8 quarterfinals, pacing along the sideline in front of the large crowd at Egg Harbor Township.

In body, anyway.

"When he's wrestling, I feel like I'm inside his body," Antonio Mininno said of his younger (by one minute) identical twin. "Even when he's in a scramble, I know what he's going to do."

The Mininno twins both won their bouts Friday night, advancing to Saturday morning's semifinals, with the third-place bouts and championship finals set for Saturday afternoon.

The top three wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the state championships next weekend at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

"They're on a mission," Gateway coach Jim Rutter said of the Mininno twins.

The twins look alike. They wrestle alike. They enjoy the same foods, work just as hard in school, profess the same deep measure of religious faith - and battle each other to the bitter end in everything from card games to weight training.

"You should see them in the [wrestling] room," Rutter said. "They get after each other nonstop. They're like that Energizer Bunny. Wind them up and they just go after each other."

Dante Mininno is 31-0 after advancing at 106 pounds with a pin of West Deptford's Nick Palese in 3 minutes, 53 seconds.

Antonio Mininno is 32-1 at 113 pounds with a 6-0 decision over West Deptford's David McCullough.

The twins are so similar they even have the same source of motivation for this weekend - the memory of what happened to both of them on the final day of the regional tournament last season.

They both lost in the semifinals in the morning and again in the third-place match in the afternoon, missing a trip to Atlantic City for the state finals by the margin of one spot on the podium.

"The car ride home was quiet," Dante Mininno said of the end of last season for both freshmen. "But we got right back to work."

Rutter said the twins are "100 percent devoted to wrestling" and determined to advance to Atlantic City this season.

Antonio is older but Dante was a few ounces heavier at birth.

"And whoever was heavier was going to be named, 'Dante,' " Antonio Mininno said. "He was bigger then. But I went straight up."

Antonio always has been a little heavier since the twins started wrestling as 7-year-olds. A Gateway assistant coach who saw the boys as youth wrestlers said they were "like little alley cats, rolling around with each other."

The twins said things really haven't changed that much since those days.

"He pushes me and I push him," Dante Mininno said. "It's good for me to have somebody a little bigger to go against."

Rutter said Antonio Mininno is a "little more aggressive" on the mat than his brother. But their styles are as similar as their body types, both using quickness, strength and uncanny balance to control opponents.

"They're both great wrestlers," Rutter said. "They're both focused and ready to wrestle their best."

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