SLIPPERY ROCK — Just call it brotherly love.

Dalton Hilliard is a senior 160-pound wrestler for Slippery Rock High School. His brother, Elijah, is a 152-pound freshman wrestler for the Rockets.

That means they square off in the practice room quite a bit.

And it isn’t pretty.

“I have to break up a fight there at least once a year,” Slippery Rock coach Bob Becker said, chuckling as he spoke. “But I let them go at it for a while first. It’s good for them.”

It’s good for the program as well.

“You want intensity in the wrestling room and we ramp it up when we go at each other,” Dalton Hilliard admitted. “We get pretty intense and, at times, heated with each other.

“You always want to get better. And I don’t want to lose to my little brother just like he doesn’t want to lose to his big brother.”

Being three years older, Dalton has the edge right now. The Rockets’ team captain, he bumped up to 170 pounds at the Redbank Valley Duals over the weekend and won all five of his matches. He improved to 7-1 on the season.

Last year, Hilliard was 18-6 and reached the regional tournament. He was a 20-win wrestler the year before.

Elijah made it to the junior high state tournament last year, putting together a 46-9 record. He is 4-2 so far this year with the high school varsity.

“I never want to lose, but I know I’m going up against stronger, older, more experienced kids now,” Elijah said. “That’s why facing Dalton in the room is helping me.

“It’s hard on me because he’s bigger and stronger. Sometimes I get the best of him ... not often.”

But there’s a purpose to the pain.

“Usually, he winds up getting beat up,” Dalton said of his practice sessions with Elijah. “But it’s toughening him up at the same time.

“This year is definitely challenging for him, but it will pay off in the end.”

Becker agreed.

“It’s tough when you’re a freshman at his weight class because you face a lot of seasoned upperclassmen,” the coach said. “Elijah was able to overpower a lot of his opponents in junior high. He can’t do that this year.

“He’s going to fill out, though. He’ll wind up bigger than his brother, probably at 182 pounds or so by the time he’s a senior.”

Elijah said he’s hopeful of doing well in the district meet this season “and getting to states by the time I’m a junior or senior.

“I know it’s a gradual process,” he said.

For Dalton, the time is now.

He won 20 matches as a sophomore and placed sixth at the Junior Olympic state meet as a freshman.

“I came close to getting to the state meet last year and I feel like I can break through this time,” he said. “I still need to work on technique. It’s hard finding the right amount of pressure to put on a kid when I have him down.

“The guy is fighting back asd it’s hard to keep him there. I only had five or six pins all of last year. I had three pins in that Redbank tourney, so maybe I’m getting better there.”

Becker said getting to the state meet is a mental battle as well as physical.

“You have to fight your way through the section meet, district, regional ... It’s a grind,” Becker said. “You have to stay mentally focused to do that.

“If your knee’s sore, they’re not going to postpone the tournament until it gets better. You have to wrestle in pain at times. It only lasts a little while.

“Getting your hand raised lasts forever,” he added.