Penn State’s Nick Nevills and Fresno State’s AJ Nevills were one seed away from wrestling each other in the first round of the NCAA Championships. Had Nick earned the four seed instead of the three, parents Wayne and Kerri would’ve had quite the conflict of interest on their hands this weekend.

The day that the brackets were announced, Wayne said the couple was hoping their sons would wrestle on opposite sides of the bracket. Luckily for them, they’ll be able sit in the Penn State section throughout the weekend and cheer on both sons, without much concern of the two crossing paths.

“My parents are excited, and [AJ] is excited,” Nick said. “My mom wants to wear some Fresno State stuff, but I told her there’s no way she’s wearing red in the Penn State section.

“I’ve been telling [AJ], ‘If we wrestle, Penn State fans will be happy, because we’re getting bonus points.”

As close as the bracket came to pitting brother against brother to begin the weekend, just last year during the NCAA Championships, the matchup seemed far off the radar. At the time, AJ was working out with Penn State during a grayshirt year. Less than a week after Penn State claimed its sixth NCAA title in seven years, though, AJ announced he was transferring to Fresno State, which relaunched its wrestling program this season.

A full year later, Fresno State is coming off a 4-16 regular season, during which the team wrestled competitively in most duals. AJ is one of two Bulldogs to qualify for NCAAs during the program’s renaissance season. He is seeded No. 14 and will face Duke’s Jacob Kasper, who Nick is 2-1 against.

“I’d rather wrestle against [Nick] than have to wrestle him for a spot in the lineup,” AJ said shortly after he transferred. “That was a main reason [for leaving Penn State].”

Joining Wayne and Kerri Nevills in the Penn State section will be their other two sons: Zach, the eldest, and Seth, the youngest. All four brothers wrestled at California powerhouse Clovis and form one of the best amateur dynasties in sports history. The only thing more Clovis than the Nevills family is the bleached blonde hair the program’s wrestlers sport every year during the state tournament.

285 Seth Nevills, 160 Brandon Martino, and 126 Justin Mejia are CA State Champs! #clov1s7 pic.twitter.com/a836z7p9hR

— Clovis Wrestling (@ClovisWrestling) March 5, 2017

The Nevills brothers combined to win nine individual state titles and more than 700 matches at Clovis. They’re now working on stockpiling appearances at the NCAA Championships. The quartet has four to date.

Last spring, Zach spent his college career wrestling at Stanford. After winning the Pac-12 last year, Zach qualified for the NCAA Championships, as did Nick. However, they wrestled in separate weight classes; Zach is the only Nevills who isn’t a heavyweight.

Seth is headed to Penn State next year after one of the most decorated high school wrestling careers in California history. The runt of the litter was 169-1 in high school and all of his wins during his final two seasons came by fall. He will likely redshirt during his brother’s senior season and fill his role during the 2020 season.

Nick affirmed that despite his younger brothers’ successes, there is “no doubt” he is still the best heavyweight in his family.

“[Seth] would disagree, but he’s going to learn really soon,” Nick said, in addition to previously asserting that he’d earn bonus points against AJ.

Part of the family’s consistent success in the sport can be attributed to how close each brother was to it while growing up. The Nevills family has been to every NCAA Championship since 2010. The first time the Nevillses attended, they saw current Penn State assistant coach Jake Varner win an NCAA title in Omaha as a senior at Iowa State.

Eight years later, Varner now coaches Nick, a perfect example of the full circle that takes shape in the small, intertwined world of college wrestling.

2010 was also the last year Penn State did not win the tournament before its run of four straight titles.

Given Nick’s already well-accomplished career, AJ’s strong start, and Seth’s monster showing in high school, there likely will be many more brackets featuring two brothers (and probably at least one matchup between them), so the Nevills’ own run of nine straight trips to the NCAA Championships won’t be coming to an end anytime soon.

If you ask Nick, he’ll be coming long after Seth graduates and maybe even years past the end of Cael Sanderson’s tenure in Happy Valley.

“I plan on going until I’m one of those old guys that is one of the last ones standing up at the NCAA Tournament,” Nick said. “It’s cool to be a part of something like wrestling.”