Everything Looks All Right for Pittsburgh's Albright Brothers

There have been a number of brother tandems who have excelled wrestling for the same team over the years in college wrestling. Add Pittsburgh's Eric and Chris Albright to the list of brothers who are hoping to accomplish big things on the mat during their careers. Read what motivates the brothers, what their expectations for the coming season are, and what it's been like growing up wrestling together through the years in a feature article by The Wrestling Mall's Mark Walters.

By Mark Walters
TWM Freelance Writer

At the beginning of this past wrestling season, the University of Pittsburgh was holding optional, pre-season practices on campus. Pitt’s 133-pound junior and eventual NCAA tournament qualifier Jimmy Conroy was going at it with 141-pound redshirt senior Eric Albright (right).

Albright and Conroy had just finished up sparring for about 20 straight minutes when Albright’s younger brother, 125-pound freshman Chris Albright came up, fresh off his own wrestling, and asked the two if they wanted to wrestle. Dog-tired but not wanting to back down the two agreed, throwing the younger of the two Albrights into the mix and alternating takedowns.

“If I took Chris down, Eric would come in,” Conroy explained. “And if Eric took Chris down then I’d come back in.” Conroy didn’t expect Chris to last much longer than five to ten minutes.

“He took a 20-minute beating from me and Eric,” Conroy said, still in awe of his teammate’s toughness.

It’s a toughness Chris (pictured, right) has learned from his older brother. Separated by two years, Eric and Chris Albright are now entering their fourth season of wrestling as teammates since their high school days back in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. Born for the mats, the two have helped each other succeed through training together and most importantly learning from each other.
“He teaches me a lot too,” Eric said of Chris. “I rubbed off on him, his technique and stuff, we wrestle alike. Real funky, kinda unorthodox stuff.”
Pitt’s head coach, Rande Stottlemyer, sees everyday what the Albrights bring to the table. Of course it wasn’t easy for Chris to make the transition from high school to college this past season.

“That’s such a hard transition to make and it’s very difficult,” Stottlemyer said.

Having his older brother by his side after Eric transferred to Pittsburgh from Virginia certainly helped Chris’ learning curve. It’s a curve that has always been sharp for Chris given his brother’s success and tutelage.

“He definitely helped me out,” Chris said of Eric being there. “He took me under his wing and showed me what I had to do and make the step from a high school kid to a college wrestler.”

While it’s frequently been said that when brothers excel at the same sport the younger one tends to be better, that may not necessarily be true of these two, but neither one stands head and shoulders above the other.

Chris grew up in his brother’s shadow, not taking to the sport as early as Eric.

“Eric, he was one of those kids who was on the mat every weekend at those elementary tournaments,” Red Lion head coach Biff Walizer said of his former star. “But Chris, he took a year off and played basketball.

“Eric was already pretty well-established. I think that’s a situation where Chris probably benefited from the most. Eric took it upon himself to show Chris some tough love in the wrestling room for a few years.”

Eric was a four-time PIAA tournament qualifier, while it was Chris’ goal to qualify for the District III tournament as a freshman. (The District III tournament is the regional qualifier. The regional tournament is the state qualifier.) But once he got going, Chris never looked back.

“His freshman year, that was the year where he kind of made that commitment,” Walizer said. “And as a sophomore he came back and won three regional titles for us and was a state runner up as a senior.”

Eric placed fourth in the state as a senior, his best finish in high school. But Eric thinks Chris should have been a state champ as a junior and a senior.

“I believe he wasn’t a state champ for a reason,” Eric said. “A lot of times when you win a state championship, not in every case, but a lot of kids will be satisfied with that. Then in college a lot of them turn out as nothing.”

Chris still hates the thought of his second place finish at the state tournament two winters ago.

“I saw all my hard work get me into second,” Chris began. “I just figured if I push myself harder then maybe I’ll one day get up past second.

“At first it kind of shakes you up but then it just gives you motivation…so it helps you out.”

Having surrendered the state crown on the bottom, Chris gets mad when an opponent is riding him out.

“The past is the past but if I ever need that little motivation it’s always there.”

Motivation is something the Albrights never lack. Their father is currently in a state prison for an embezzlement scandal, a family issue that was not easy to deal with.

“It breaks his [my dad’s] heart that he can’t be out and see us wrestle,” Eric said. “Dad made some mistakes but he’s always been there for us. Mom, she’s always been there for us.

“We wanted to help Mom as much as possible. Helpin’ Mom…all Mom wants for us is  to be happy and be successful, so the biggest way we can help her, instead of running away and quitting school and going home is just, she wants us to finish our education and get good jobs and have a wife, kids and treat ‘em good forever.”

Walizer commends the Albrights for how they’ve handled adversity.

“They’ve each dealt with and are dealing with things in their personal lives in different ways and they both know however, that their dad was a big part of helping to get them where they’re at as far as wrestling. He was their biggest supporter.”

“It gave us attitude,” Chris said of their family struggles.

Eric noted the anger they had built up toward their father.

“It kind of (upsetp) us all,” Eric said. “It makes me want to do it all next year a little bit more.”

Eric hopes to be an All-American this March and has been working at getting down to 133 for his final collegiate season.

“I know I’m better than an All-American,” Eric said.

He knows 133 is a competitive weight. Reece Humphrey from Ohio State, Franklin Gomez from Michigan State, Jayson Ness from Minnesota, Steve Bell from Maryland – just to name a few. He knows all the names but he’s confident.

“I’d say it’s probably the most competitive weight in wrestling right now,” Eric said. He has beaten Bell when he was at Virginia, but was quick to describe his junior season, specifically getting upset in the ACC tournament, as the worst month and day of his life.

He didn’t leave Virginia bitterly and remains well in touch with his coaches and teammates from Charlottesville. It was a necessary move for him, and one that has helped his brother as well as mother.

“Mom likes us being out here together,” Eric said. “Obviously she’d rather that than me being in Virginia and him [Chris] being here, far apart. It works out.”

Chris may redshirt this season, but as it stands the two are training in Pittsburgh, lifting and wrestling four times a week. Stottlemyer said the decision to redshirt Chris won’t hinge on this being Eric’s last year of collegiate wrestling.

“We’re trying to do what’s best for our team,” Stottlemyer said. “And were trying to do what’s best for Chris and obviously what’s best for Eric.”

Whatever the two may do, they have a bond that only brothers can share, which goes a long way on the mat. As competitive as they may be, they each want their brother to succeed even more.

Mark Walters can be reached at walters.mark2@gmail.com