There’s the dedication Bode and Robbie have for wrestling, and the desire to work hard every day in practice during the season and in the gym during the off-season to get better.

“It’s like a job at this level,” Ogunwole says. “It’s definitely my number one extracurricular. I put my greatest energy into [wrestling].”

There’s the undying support of each other that strengthens in times of adversity. It’s the kind of support that transcends wrestling and applies on a more general level.

“It means a lot having someone I know who understands what I’m going through,” Bode says of his roommate.

“It’s so great being roommates and going along similar paths,” Robbie says. “We push each other [along] the way.”

Take away the contrasting demeanors, substitute the textbooks and PlayStation controllers for a mat and pads, and you’ll find two men who are remarkably similar. Ogunwole and Preston are united in their determination and will.

They share a rare and fierce drive for success that has propelled them to the top of their sport, and has left head coach Jay Weiss in awe.

“Those two guys are special,” Weiss explains. “It’s an honor for me to be coaching [them].”

But for those like Weiss who have gotten to know Bode and Robbie, the admiration derives from so much more than just wrestling. It’s not the fact that Preston could “beat anyone in the country in his class,” or that Ogunwole could “win a national title” that impresses Weiss the most. Rather, it’s what Weiss calls the “extreme success personalities” of his two stars that has warranted his utmost respect.

“They’re so looked up to on the team, and [it’s clear] why,” Weiss says. “Bode’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and he’s so determined. [Robbie’s] just got such charisma [and] he leads by example.”

For Ogunwole and Preston, the similarities are far more important than the myriad differences.

It’s the similarities that have led them to great success in their sport, and, as Weiss explains, far beyond.

“Their characters, and [how] they’re driven, will take [them] farther outside of wrestling than on the mat,” Weiss says. “They just don’t know that yet.”

So while Bode resumes his reading, and Robbie un-pauses the video game, the two roommates both have wrestling in the back of their minds. They know what they need to do this weekend. They are prepared to reward themselves for a season’s worth of hard work. But more than anything else, Bode Ogunwole and Robbie Preston are determined.

Perhaps they’re not such an unlikely pair after all.