MILL HALL, Pa. — Andrew Alton had to take a couple seconds to think about it.
In his four-year career, what hasn't the Central Mountain senior accomplished?
State titles? Check. Regional titles? Four of them, to be exact.
The long laundry list continues on for miles and miles. Honestly, if you laid out his resume and accomplishments, it would probably stretch along the concrete pavement of Interstate 80, through the red lights on Route 15 and right into the doorway of the Giant Center in Hershey, the final stop on an amazing high school road.
That's why it took the nationally-ranked grappler a few seconds to think of one or two words to sum up his remarkable career.
"Amazing," he said, "and memorable."
Andrew, along with his twin brother, Dylan, competed for the final time as a high school wrestler at the PIAA Class AAA state individual tournament. There, the Central Mountain twins added two more state titles to the resume. Andrew won in the 145-pound weight class, while Dylan became a three-time champion. While it took Andrew a few seconds to think about it, Doug Buckwalter rattled it right off the top of his head.
"The Altons have always shown character on the mat," the CM head coach said. "They just epitomize what an athlete, a wrestler, needs to be. Over the four years, you have a lot of people that come up and talk about their ability. But I get as many comments about the way they handle themselves on and off the mat. That's a tribute to them and their parents. It's a great reflection passed on to everyone, and the younger guys notice it. They see it what it takes to be on top, on and off the mat."
Character. It's a word that means so much, especially in a day and age where professionals take celebration to a new extreme.
Chad Ochocinco grabbed pom-poms and started to shake it up with a Cincinnati Bengal cheerleader after one of his touchdowns. That's not counting other numerous acts he's pulled: The mock attempt to bribe a replay official and the now-famous pulling the Sharpie out of his sock and signing a football to name a few.
Manny Ramirez smokes a fastball deep into the bleachers at Dodger Stadium, flips his bat and walks down the first-base line staring at a pitcher.
Never once will you see the Altons cheer, taunt or make a spectacle. Not after winning a regular-season dual, a district match or a state title.
"You can't match their character. It's something you don't see very often at the high school level," said Tom Elling, known and recognized statewide for his work in the football and wrestling fields. "You can put a video camera on them after every one of their matches and you couldn't tell if they won or not. They aren't the type of individuals that tries to upstage an opponent. That's just not the way they are."
Character.
"It shows a lot about yourself," Dylan said. "You never want to be cocky or disrespect anyone. That's not the way to handle it. People will respect you more if you hold yourself to a higher standard. If you win, it's great, but you don't need to go out and overshadow your opponent. I want to carry myself at that level. I never want to put my opponent down."
It's something the two boys have grown accustomed to. According to their father, Neil, the twin sensations have been around people their entire lives that have taught the duo about class and character. Specifically, Cary Kolat.
"I would say the one thing they learned, even at a very young age, was to always respect their opponent and never jump up and down win, lose or draw," Neil said. "That guy is working just as hard. They were always taught to keep it respectful. The people that got to see Cary wrestle, he always respected his opponent. He always remembered how people acted in matches against him. Cary always expected to win, but he never jumped up and down when he did. It's about that respect factor, and I think the boys saw that."
Of course, when you are in the public eye, you are always watched. The Altons were eyeballed from an early age, and when the boys were dominating the elementary and junior high scene, the whispers grew and grew to what was one of the most highly-anticipated local debuts of any athletes in the winter of 2006. Before they even stepped on a varsity mat, everyone wondered just how good the twins could be.
"Cary used to have them in the room, just rolling around with him when he was training to cut weight. At the time, they had no idea who they were rolling around with," Neil said. "It was kind of like osmosis for them. They just learned the sport, and probably didn't even realize what they were learning. They took it all in, and they've been great."
Yes, even the Altons felt a little pressure entering that freshman year. Wouldn't you if all eyes were directly on every step, every match, every move?
"As a freshman, there was a little pressure, but I thought that I handled it well," Andrew said. "There were some butterflies that year, but it was fun. Everything worked out for me."
"I never let the pressure get to me," Dylan said. "I always let it fly when I hit the mat. I didn't want to have any regrets. I just went out and never stopped wrestling for six minutes."
It's pretty fair to say the Altons have no regrets.
Combined, they are 354-13 in their CM careers. They have only lost two bouts combined since their freshman year. Dylan finished with a massive 135-match win streak. Andrew ended on nearly a 100-match win streak.
They are both ranked No. 1 in the nation; Andrew at 145 and Dylan at 152. Both already committed joining head coach Cael Sanderson in Happy Valley next year in what some are starting to claim as the beginning of a Nittany Lion dynasty.
The statistics are glaring. A total of more than 220 pins, seven district titles, eight regional crowns and five state golds. They hold the school record in every category, except for major decisions. Then again, many of their matches didn't go past the first minute of the opening period.
Andrew and Dylan are seated one, two in Clinton County for most wins. They also hold records for most wins in a season.
"The people that didn't get the chance to watch them wrestle will regret it," Elling said. "I'm not sure we will ever see two wrestlers like the Altons again. They are just driven athletes and they have a lot of self-confidence. They are pinning machines. They had goals set at a very young age, and they've continued to work. They've achieved it by going step-by-step. You see elementary and junior-high wrestlers that are highly successful at that level, but never fully develop when they hit varsity. The Altons continued to improve all the way up, and that's a credit to their parents."
If anyone has the right to puff out their chest a little, it's Andrew and Dylan. But they didn't. Not to teammates. Not to coaches. Not to fans and CM faithful. Not to local media. Don't think it is going to happen any time soon, either.
"The best part is showing the proper character as an individual and with your teammates. It will get everyone further along," Andrew said. "You can't think that you are better than anyone else because it will get you nowhere. I've had an awesome career at Central Mountain. The whole team is made up of people with good character. When you are around people like that, it makes you get better as a wrestler and as a person."
And Neil, well, he can't stop smiling as you can even see some tears of pride in his eyes.
"I can't begin to explain it," the proud dad said. "They have turned out to be what I envisioned them to be. They are good kids, respect the sport and they are good students. They know that wrestling will end and it's all about life when it is said and done. They keep that in the back of their minds. When the sport is done, they will be wrestlers wrestling through life. And that means a lot to me because you know they are going to work hard; whether that may be in the practice room, in the office or in life. That's the attitude, and they've been taught that since they were young. And I think they do a great job of giving back in the room and passing it along to their teammates."
