Dynasty in the making

Three bed frames have lost their lives in the Figueroa house — at least that’s what the official record shows. But it’s not entirely accurate.

“We actually broke a fourth one last week, but Dad doesn’t know that yet,” said Jesus Figueroa, a junior at Homewood High School.

Jesus and his older brother Daniel, a senior, and younger brother Miguel, a freshman, together have broken all of their beds and their parents’ bed and busted through a wall in the past several years.

Their parents are none too happy about it, the brothers say.

But at the same time, they’re proud of their sons. Because their boys — who keep body slamming each other into the furniture — are a powerhouse force on the Homewood High wrestling team and have a reputation across the state and beyond.

They’re proud of the Figueroa dynasty — a dynasty that started really out of nowhere.

“It all started for me in seventh grade when a friend was talking to me after his wrestling practice and told me I should come give it a try,” Daniel said. “I did, and I fell in love with it. I loved competing, and I loved beating people.”

He’d been playing football, but this was more personal, he said. “I go out there on the mat by myself and I whoop somebody because I want to win.”

He whooped so many somebodies, in fact, that when the coach found out there was a younger brother, he got the then-sixth grade Jesus to start working out with the team, too.

“I had a pretty good successful year when seventh grade came along,” Jesus said.

And then came brother number three.

By then, the Figueroas were well known.

“I have always loved hearing people say, ‘Oh, you’re going to wrestle Figueroa? Good luck,’” youngest brother Miguel said.

It never mattered which Figueroa it was — all were bad news if they ended up in your tournament bracket, he said.

Daniel’s long been the anchor of the team. At the freshman state tournament three years ago, he “walked in there to wrestle and I was kicking everybody’s behind,” he said with a shy smile. Paired finally against a guy who had beaten him in the eighth grade, he said, “It was personal. I was mad.”

And Jesus said his older brother “looked like a rock and he was just demolishing it.”

Coaches from all over took notice, he said. “That’s where a lot of the ‘Oh, Figueroa is tough to beat’ stuff started.”

Jesus followed in his footsteps.

And the youngest brother isn’t to be underestimated either.

As a freshman, Miguel is undefeated in varsity meets so far, and last year as an eighth-grader he finished third at a national championship meet in Nashville.

Two tournaments ago, Miguel and Jesus ended up wrestling each other in a finals match, and Miguel — knowing his brother’s go-to moves — said he also “knew the counter and was waiting for it.”

And he took Jesus down.

“Miguel is a much better wrestler than either of us,” Jesus said. “He’s so conditioned and so strong, and I really don’t know how he does it.”

At that, Daniel laughed. “Because he hits the gym with me all the time when you’re hanging out with your girlfriend.”

When you wrestle with your brothers, it comes with built-in accountability, said Coach Eddie Crocker.

“It makes you go harder and be more determined, because no brothers want to lose against each other ever,” he said. “It’s all about bragging, ‘I took you down today.’ It’s like iron sharpening iron — the tough guy sharpens the other tough guy.”

Sounds just like their house, Miguel said.

“Whenever the three of us wrestle each other, we almost kill each other,” he said with a grin. “It’s so frustrating, because we know what each other is going to do and we’re ready for it.”

But they also are each other’s biggest fans, Crocker said.

For instance, Daniel is preparing to drop down a weight class to clear a spot for Miguel in the weight class the youngest brother could best compete in.

“We would not be the same team without those three,” Crocker said.

All three are hoping they’ll wrestle together at the nationals in Virginia Beach this spring break. It’d be a special way to end the year they all got to be on the same team in an official capacity, Daniel said.

Together they’ve been through injuries and a whole bunch of other obstacles, and at the end of the day, they’re still smiling.

“We love the sport,” Daniel said. “And it really is fun to get to do it together.”