WHO’S NEXT? USAW STAR OF THE FUTURE Doi twins making impact
By Meagan Templeton-Lynch Marina and Regina Doi have the unique experience of wrestling themselves. These 16-year-old identical twins from California have oppo-
site facial features, so they each see their own mirror image in the other. The girls claim they have similar wrestling styles; though have
one weight class difference with Marina in the lightest Cadet class at 38 kg/83.75 lbs. and her sister Regina in the one above at 40 kg/88 lbs. Marina and Regina are rising stars in the wrestling world.
Marina earned gold at the 2012 Cadet World Championships in Azerbaijan last summer, which she said is her proudest accom- plishment. She also took home silver at the 2011 Cadet Worlds. Regina also served on the Cadet World team in 2011 and
2012, taking 8th in 2011 and 5th in 2012, but her proudest accomplishment is fairly different. For her, being able to wrestle at all is a major triumph. Regina is diagnosed with the heart condition supraventricular
tachycardia (SVT), a nonfatal condition that causes her to have episodes of increased heart rate, often reaching more than 280 beats per minute (a resting heart rate of over 100 is usually considered too high). So far, she has had two unsuccessful sur- geries to correct her SVT. In addition, it was recently discovered that Regina’s heart is upside-down, backwards and farther to the right than an average heart, a product of being a “mirror twin.”
While her episodes can be scary, she’s lucky that she wres-
tles, she said. “Wrestling has saved my life because without having a strong heart and being athletic, my heart would be really unhealthy,” Regina said. “I wouldn’t be able to do the things I can now because I would have to get a pacemaker. Wrestling keeps my heart strong and healthy.” Marina and Regina both stress the importance family has had
in their wrestling. Their brother, Sonny, was the one that got the girls into wrestling at age four, and their parents have been emotionally and financially supportive throughout their time wrestling. Having a twin also has special benefits for the Doi sisters, both in their personal lives and in wrestling. “We have each other to rely on and we always have a prac-
tice partner,” Marina said of her sister. “We’re always together, that’s probably the best part. We always get to train with each other and make each other better.” The girls both took home gold when they competed in February at the Klippan Lady Open in Sweden. National Women’s Team Coach Terry Steiner traveled with the Senior and Cadet women’s teams and said the girls are great repre- sentatives of California and the United States. “Marina and Regina are the heart and soul of our Cadet National Team. They have a lot of success because they do a lot of the right things. They are good at what they do and they work hard,” Steiner said. “We expect big things, but I think they expect big things of themselves as well.” The Doi sisters hope to attend the same college and pursue degrees in the medical field after they graduate in 2014. They intend on taking themselves to the highest possible level in wrestling – whether that be World Championships or the
30 USA Wrestler
Twins Marina and Regina Doi. John Sachs photo.
Olympics, hopefully both. Important upcoming tournaments for the girls are the Body
Bar Women's National Championships in May, the Austrian Open in June and then hopefully the Cadet World Championships this August in Serbia. Before competitions, the Doi sisters do something their broth-
er taught them. They make one journal entry a day until it sinks in and soon their entries may look like this: “Marina Doi, 2013 World Champion.” “Regina Doi, 2013 World Champion.” “We picture ourselves getting our hands raised at the end of
the match,” Marina said. “I just get it in my mind that I’m going to win; I just have to go get my medal.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44