PUEBLO — Pueblo Central’s boys wrestling coach Kenny Pino has been a staple in the Pueblo community for more than a decade. He spent many years guiding the youth on technique and the culture of the sport, but he always hoped that one day his own kids would find their way to the mat.
That day finally arrived as his twins Kenna and Genaro began to compete. Growing up and constantly wrestling with each other, they eventually began to have an appreciation for a full time practice partner.
Kenna, being smaller than Genaro, always had to find ways to outsmart him or take advantages of his weaknesses. Those turned into learning lessons for Genaro and he says he takes her criticism to heart more than anyone else because she knows him best.
Kenna gets the privilege of practicing against what would always be her strongest opponent. Genaro’s experience and strength makes it difficult to physically practice with, but Kenna takes advantage of picking his brain and listening to her brother when he suggests a better way to do something.
While it’s easy for them to coach each other, Kenny has to balance when to coach and when to sit back and just be their dad. For him, he looks at and treats all his wrestlers as if they were his own kids, so, naturally he treats his kids as if they were his wrestlers.
"There's times where I have to step back and just applaud them and be happy. Be happy that they are healthy and they are doing something that they put a lot of work into. Just be happy and be a dad and sit back,” said Kenny.
But there are those moments where he gets to enjoy being both at the same time. Genaro went on to win the state title in his weight class during his junior year and was able to celebrate on the floor with his dad by running into his arms.
While he was celebrating the win with his dad, he dedicated the win to his biggest fan.
“I did it for my mom. I just wanted to point at her and I know that she’s my biggest supporter. Then hugging my sister right after, they are my biggest supporters and I just always want to do it for them,” said Genaro after winning state.
Kenny, Kenna, and Genaro may be the ones on the mat, but they all say the backbone to the family is mom and wife Melissa. As someone who was hardly into wrestling before, it has now become her favorite sport, but it’s also become more than that for the Pino family.
"It's such a gift, like it's really brought us closer. Its helped us avenue difficult issues as well as a family and figuring out how to interact with each other with certain situations. So, it's brought us closer and it's a bond that I don't think many people have, so, I think it's a thing that we will take with us forever,” said Melissa.
At the conclusion of the school year, Genaro will be preparing to join the Air Force wrestling program after committing right before the new year. Kenna has received interest from college programs, but is currently keeping her options open. Kenny will return to lead the Wildcats wrestling program for his 22nd overall year, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
When the time does come for Kenny and the Pino family to move on from the Central wrestling program, he just hopes his family has left a legacy beyond what they’ve accomplished on the mat.
"I hope they think of the work we put in to help this program, to help improve the school and where we were at," said Kenny. "To help people that needed help and not just to become champions or to get trophies or metals but to become better people. What we do outside of wrestling also reflects on helping people and I think that's who we are. Not just as a husband and wife, but as a family."
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