For some, wrestling comes naturally, for others, it takes time to master its technique and adapt to all the physical challenges that come with the sport but here at Cal Poly on the wrestling team, being on the mat is in their blood.
The Lamer brothers, from oldest to youngest, consist of Justice, Brawley, Legend, Chance and Daschle. They all wrestled growing up in South Dakota and Oregon but the latter four, now all reside within the Cal Poly Wrestling program.
To understand how four brothers were able to take the mat together, one look at their family lineage explains why. Their father Chad Lamer was a three time Division II National Champion at South Dakota State University that coached all five Lamer brothers growing up and at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Oregon.
“He didn't stop competing until I was like six years old so naturally I wanted to be like my dad," Brawley explained. my parents put singlets on us before we were able to walk.”
Brawley, the oldest blazed the trail, coming to Cal Poly in 2017. Next came Legend who as a coveted recruit out of high school decided to join Brawley in 2019.
“I wanted to help like grow this program to what it is today and hopefully even further than that,” Legend said.
Then by a stroke of luck, the rest of the flock came this past offseason. After two years in the Big 10 at Michigan, Chance joined the team adding even more fire power to the group.
“Looking back on it, if I were to go back and do it again, I would have just went straight to Cal Poly," Chance admitted. "But that was just the path it took me on.”
The youngest, Daschle would join Chance to bring four of the five brothers together again.
“It's been really cool to just see their careers skyrocket and just waiting for mine to happen to,” Daschle said.
On Jan. 12, Legend, Chance and Daschle all were in the lineup together for the first time ever as Brawley, now graduated, watched with the highlight being Daschle’s pin to help mount a comeback win against Northern Colorado.
“I was making jokes and I was just thinking how like honoring that is,” Daschle recalled.
With the pin, Daschle let out emotion that rang through all of the Mott Athletic Center.
“I think that shows how much wrestling at these duals means to me and like wrestling with my brothers means to me."
“It was just magical," Brawley added. "It was really cool. Just a very special moment for us.“
For the brothers who vary in age, they are as close as they come. Off the mat they are together. Growing up, they were each others wrestling partners. Simply put, they are inseparable. Family means everything.
“I tell my brothers this all the time when I was at Michigan, I was on the team, but here, this is a family." Chance said.
"Honestly when I have to miss a practice I like, I kind of get pissed just because I want to be there. I love them.”
Chance is one of the top ranked 149-pound wrestlers in the entire country coming off a year where he reached the 2023 NCAA Championships. Meanwhile Daschle comes in as a redshirt freshman, wide-eyed and looking to follow to make an impact just like his brothers.
“Ever since I was little I love doing what my brothers did.”
In a sport that requires strength, stamina, technique and and insane amount of will, it is one of the most difficult individual sports. But for the Lamer brothers, it bonds them, not just in college but for life.
“You have to put in a lot of time to it," Legend stated. "I think that's really brought us together, just like the grind of the sport. “
Justice, the oldest, ran cross country at Montana State but competed in wrestling growing up his four other brothers.
