STREETSBORO — Wrestlers had just finished weighing in and were just beginning warm-ups when Nic Skonieczny gave his prediction for the triangular that was about to begin. “It’ll be better when I beat’em up,” he said. So much for family harmony. The triangular held at Streetsboro on Jan. 11 was a family affair of sorts. The host Rockets are coached by Mark Skonieczny. The teams Streetsboro hosted on this night were coached by his twin sons, Nic at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Nate at Lake Catholic. All three are in their second year at the helm at their respective schools. Lake Catholic wrestling coach Nate Skonieczny gives instructions during the Cougars’ triangular with Streetsboro and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary on Jan. 11. (John Kampf – The News-Herald) “It’s incredible,” said Mark Skonieczny, the family patriarch. “Wrestling has always been my passion. It’s a great feeling to see it is theirs, too.” The Skonieczny family is steeped in wrestling tradition and greatness. Nate was a two-time state champion at Walsh Jesuit, while Nic was a two-time state-placer for the Warriors, topping out at third place. A third brother, Ryan, was a four-time state-placer at Akron SVSM, with a top finish of second place. He does not coach wrestling. “We grew up in an old-school way of life,” Nate Skonieczny said. “I was one of five kids. It’s a very blue-collar family, but we learned to be disciplined and learned that you work for everything you get. That translates perfectly into the sport of wrestling.” All three programs have high aspirations this season. Nate’s Lake Catholic program is projected to be a top-five team in Division III, per borofanohio.net, while Mark’s Streetsboro team is projected to be in the top 10 in Division II. Not surprisingly, all three of the Skoniecznys coached with passion and fire. “Hey, like I always told them — leave no doubt,” Mark said with a smile. “Nic wrestles his brother Ryan at the state tournament one time — one was at Walsh Jesuit, the other was at St. Vincent-St. Mary. When you step on the mat, it is what it is.” Nate nodded his head. There’s no special conduct, even if there’s a family member on the other side of the mat. “It’s wrestling,” Nate said. “When you get on the mat, you wrestle who is in front of you.” When asked about family battles when the boys were younger, everyone laughed. “We’ll keep that behind closed doors,” Nate said with a laugh, to which his father countered, “You’d have to ask my wife. I was at work when those fights were going on.” In the triangular on Jan. 11 at Streetsboro, Lake Catholic started with a 46-35 win over St. Vincent-St. Mary, then capped the night with a 48-30 win over Streetsboro. Family bragging rights for the year go to Nate. But the Cougars’ coach said the evening wasn’t as much about that as his team’s progress and growing the sport. He said he loved the gigantic portion of the stands consisting of members of the Skonieczny family, part of the near-capacity crowd in Streetsboro’s gymnasium. “We didn’t do this for bragging rights or to rub it in or to say ‘My team is better,'” he said. “We do it because we are true competitors and we have really good teams. These kids SHOULD be wrestling each other. You do it for the fans, too. This is something that is really good for wrestling — hard on the family — but we’re true wrestlers and we want to grow this sport. We want to make this sport the best sport in the world. This is a step coaches can do to make it the best sport in the world.” When the night was over, the trio of coaches said now that the mini-family reunion was over, they would all head their separate ways being each others’ biggest fans. “After tonight, we’ll all help each other again,” Mark Skonieczny said.