Josh Maruca and Josh Shields share many similarities, including their first name, their hometown, the sport they play and how they grew up wrestling together in Murrysville, Pennsylvania — just east of Pittsburgh.
The most unlikely of the two wrestlers' similarities, however, is that they both ended up over 2,000 miles away from home in the middle of the desert.
Maruca and Shields are both redshirt freshmen for ASU wrestling. They started wrestling at the age of five in a small room that reeks of sweat and awakens the nostrils of anyone who enters.
"We started out in the Franklin Regional (high school) wrestling room," Maruca said. "We've been on the same team and traveling together to the same tournaments since then."
Maruca was introduced to the sport through his dad, who also wrestled in his hay day. Shields, on the other hand, began his journey on the mat in a very different way.
"I got involved when I received a letter in the mail from a friend's dad of mine asking if we wanted to join the program," Shields said. "I said yes because I thought I was going to be hitting people with chairs and what not."
Shields said he didn't know what he was getting himself into at that young age when he agreed to join the team, a decision that would blossom him into the person he is today.
That being said, Maruca and Shields don't take full responsibility for getting themselves to Tempe and the ASU wrestling program. The two credit their fathers as the individuals who've been with them through the intense demands of the wrestling world, such as picking up and dropping them off at practice, as well as spending endless hours of time, travel and money to support their child's aspirations.
"My father has always stuck by my side and motivated me," Shields said. "We've been through this grind of relentless work and chaos for about 14 years."
Supportive parents are a necessity to reach the college wrestling pinnacle, according to both Maruca and Shields. What also helps that quest is the environment and culture that is fostered through the trials of a highly competitive western Pennsylvania high school wrestling landscape.
Shields and Maruca were teammates at Franklin Regional High School before committing to ASU. #ASUWrestling #FunFacts #SPCoverage
— Tyler Handlan (@tyler_handlan) October 30, 2016
"The depth of the wrestlers in western Pennsylvania is so deep," Maruca said. "Everyone just makes each other better. It just helps me already have those abilities to build off of now that I'm out west wrestling people from all over the country."
Maruca and Shields are described as competitive by those close to them, although that may be a bit of an understatement. The two have formed somewhat of a rivalry over the years, trading wins and losses.
"We always wrestled each other in elementary school so I didn't like him that much," Shields said. "He would beat me and then I would beat him. The cycle would repeat like every weekend. I thought of us as rivals but when we hit middle school we finally grew some and were always a weight class apart."
Maruca and Shields both have Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state individual championships during their time at Franklin Regional.
At the end of their senior year, their high school team had five wrestlers participating in state championship match-ups, with four of them winning. That tied a state record in Pennsylvania for the most champions in a single PIAA wrestling tournament.
"People don't understand how good western Pennsylvania wrestling is," Shields said. "Until they've been in the room with us. I think in my senior year we had top ranked guys in the country in about nine of the 14 weight classes training everyday."
ASU head coach Zeke Jones has no issues spotting talent, and this was no exception. The 1992 Summer Olympics silver medalist and National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee saw an opportunity to snag two gems for his program and took advantage.
"Shields and Maruca come from excellent coaching and families," Jones said. "That's the main reason why we recruited them. They have outstanding character and can handle the training load that our program demands."
Jones spent a majority of his life in Pennsylvania and one of his former wrestlers was the head coach of Maruca and Shields.
Maruca, Shields and the rest of the Sun Devil roster have just embarked on the 2016-17 season, which has a challenging schedule with multiple ranked teams, but that's exactly the type of competition that Maruca and Shields wanted.
"My long term individual goal is to be the 157-pound NCAA Champ at the St. Louis, Missouri this year," Shields said. "That is the same goal for our team and for of the individuals on it. I would have came here if I didn't believe I could win titles here."
Reach the reporter at thandlan@asu.edu or follow @Tyler_Handlan on Twitter.
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