Different but Equal : Anaya Twins of San Fernando High Sport Few Common Traits With the Exception of Their Uncommon Wrestling Ability

Opposites, the saying goes, attract. And twins, whether identical or fraternal, typically have more similarities than can be counted.

All of which makes Gerardo and Manuel Anaya, fraternal twins and senior wrestlers at San Fernando High, an interesting study.

Manuel stands 5-foot-6 and wrestles at 130 pounds; Gerardo, stands 5-10 and wrestles as a 200-pound heavyweight.

“All the time, when we tell people we’re twins, they don’t believe us,” Gerardo said. “They have their doubts. They say, ‘Why are you bigger? Why do you have curly hair?’ ”

San Fernando wrestling Coach Mike Castillo was among the skeptics when the Anayas first appeared in the school’s wrestling room two years ago.

“They just didn’t look like twins,” Castillo said. “They’ve always reminded me of that movie, ‘Twins.’ You know, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.”

Manuel’s eyes are green, his black hair fine; Gerardo has brown eyes, wavy hair, and forearms and fists decidedly larger than his brother’s.

At birth, Manuel outweighed Gerardo by three pounds. Gerardo attributes his 70-pound advantage to a lack of willpower when it comes to appetite. “Too many (burgers),” he said. “I pretty much eat whatever I want.”

Although their similarities are few, three years of wrestling have produced at least one thing in common for San Fernando’s Odd Couple.

Today, Gerardo and Manuel will compete in the state wrestling finals at University of the Pacific in Stockton. More than 400 wrestlers are expected to compete in the two-day, double-elimination tournament.

The Anayas qualified for the state meet with winning performances in the City Section finals last Saturday at San Fernando. It was the first City title for each.

“It’s been a sporadic year for them,” Castillo said. “I had to keep on them to keep their grades up, Gerry more than Manny. I wanted to keep them eligible and I wanted them to graduate.”

The Spartan life has been difficult for the brothers. But their grades have improved, and so has their wrestling.

Gerardo and Manuel, the only twins among seven siblings, began wrestling as sophomores. While Manuel took to the sport like Hulk Hogan to a television microphone, Gerardo repeatedly was flipped on his back like a frozen meat patty.

Manuel finished third in the City’s 112-pound class. Gerardo won only one of 16 matches at the 175-pound level.

“Gerry took it pretty good,” Castillo said. “He kept coming back for more. He was more timid and less self-assured. But he didn’t like to lose.”

Said Gerardo: “Every day in practice I wanted to quit. But if I would have quit, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Last season, Gerardo finished second in the City’s 189-pound class; Manuel finished second at 125 pounds.

This season each has lost only five matches.

But when their schoolwork didn’t keep pace, Castillo scratched both wrestlers from the lineup in the Newbury Park tournament. Gerardo also was held out of a few Valley League matches.

“That pretty much got me straight,” Gerardo said. “In most of my classes, I had Bs. But I began to fall asleep in class. I was dropping down to Cs and Ds.”

Manuel, who received a D in a science class, said he was angered by his coach’s decision and considered quitting the team.

“I finally realized that I wasn’t going to let that get in my way,” he said. “I began to think that this was my last year and I would lose everything.”

Adding to the grind were the brothers’ part-time jobs. Manuel worked for a time as a cashier in a self-service gas station; Gerardo remains a supermarket box boy.

“I would only work weekends,” Manuel said, “but since most of the tournaments were on weekends, I ended up getting fired.”

In the City finals, Manuel breezed to a 10-4 victory over Jesus Mata of Fremont. “I promised myself I was going to go for the City title this year,” he said.

To the surprise of no one, Gerardo, who competed at 189 pounds for most of the season, found the going more difficult. But he pulled the upset of the tournament when he notched a 4-3 overtime victory over undefeated Keith Jardine of Canoga Park, the City’s defending heavyweight champion.

Throughout the match, Gerardo jumped in place enthusiastically during timeouts and gestured to the crowd while San Fernando followers chanted “Ger -EEE! Ger- EEE! “

“That pumped me up, made me want it more,” Gerardo said. “Everyone came in thinking he would win. A lot of people were saying, ‘You should have stayed at 189.’ I said, ‘I know I made a mistake by not going 189, but now I’m going to make up for it.’ ”

In a tight contest from the opening whistle, Gerardo scored the tying point with 16 seconds left in the third period when Jardine was penalized for stalling.

Two minutes into sudden-death overtime, the match came to an end when Gerardo was awarded a point after Jardine was penalized for grabbing his jersey.

“It wasn’t a cheap win because I was going for my move and he was backing away,” Gerardo said. “That’s his fault. A point is a point. It doesn’t matter how you get it.”

Of course, success this season is not the twins’ only similarity. There are others, not the least of which is a passion for good grooming.

Both wear their hair slicked back, which has led to more than one quarrel over the use of a common tube of mousse.

“He uses too much,” Manuel said. “These tubes, they come five bucks for a couple ounces. And he uses half of one for one use.”

That’s only fair, Gerardo argues, because he usually foots the bill for the gel. That’s one of the benefits of being among the working class.

But when it comes to winning, they’re in the same class.