Cole Sheptock always wanted to be better than his older brother Jimmy at everything. It's part of the common nature of brothers in the athletic field to have that sibling rivalry, especially in the case of a younger brother.

Boys just want to have fun and brothers tend to want to be better than each other.

Jimmy Sheptock is now a Division-1 wrestler and Cole is joining those ranks as well this summer at the University of Pittsburgh.

Cole's fourth place state medal at this year's PIAA 3A tournament, along with his District 11 and Northeast Regional tournament titles helped Sheptock solidify himself as the Northampton Press male athlete of the year.

Being a senior captain along with teammate and current college roommate Jason Stephen thrust both athletes into a leadership role, one that Sheptock learned how to perform when he was a freshman at Northampton through his senior brother at the time.

"He always pushed everyone to be better and I really learned to be a leader just like him," said Sheptock in reference to his older sibling Jimmy. "Everything he's done, I've wanted to do better, so he's really pushed me to be a better person and athlete."

Being a wrestler since preschool, the sport has been engrained in the Sheptock family and it's the love of the sport that has kept Cole interested in it for over 13 years, despite the rigorous demands it can have on a person's self-discipline and will.

"It's really the competition of the sport that I love so much," he said. "Nobody likes to lose weight or put in all the hard work and sweat that you need to do in order to become great, but if there's one thing that every wrestler loves, it's having your hand raised after you win a match."

Sheptock was a four-year starter for the K-Kids and has been through the championship runs of winning a district title his freshman year and upsetting Easton during the regular season as a sophomore.

He's enjoyed the thrill of winning two district golds and reaching Pennsylvania's wrestling promise land of the PIAA tournament twice, but he's also dealt with Northampton's transitional period with a new head coach this past season as Seth Lisa took over for Terry Daubert.

It wasn't the type of year that the team had hoped for, as they lost to Stroudsburg 45-20 in their opening round of the District 11 3A team tournament, but Sheptock knows better days are ahead for the program and that he was part of that growth process.

"This was kind of like a rebuilding year for us, but the change of having Seth and Whitey [Chlebove] coach us this year was great," Sheptock said. "They're great coaches and were able to work with us individually and they're going to get this program back to the top where it belongs."

And it's part of that Northampton wrestling mentality that Sheptcok has now taken over to Pitt, where the sessions are tougher and the wrestling is more demanding.

"When you're in high school you think practices are tough," he said. 'It's nothing like it is in college, but going to Northampton was the greatest decision I made. It really helped me get ready for the transition for college because the workouts prepare you for college wrestling. I'm just looking forward to it all."

He's also looking forward to hopefully trumping his brother at the collegiate level one day, since Jimmy, a member of Maryland's wrestling team as a 174-pounder, was a bronze medalist at states in high school, trumping his fourth place this past season.

"He's still got me at that, I'll give that to him," Cole said. "But we'll see what happens in college."