Being a newcomer to the Cato-Meridian wrestling team could be a bit intimidating for anyone.

The Blue Devils have a rich wrestling tradition to begin with, but more so recently after having three Section III champions in the last three seasons.

That includes Cato-Meridian's former 215-pound powerhouse Jason Brown, who became the first state champion in the school's history last February.

Now imagine being new to the mats in Cato-Meridian's gym and being the younger brother of the state champ, whose dominance last season is still fresh in the minds of Blue Devils faithful.

Those are the shoes that Ben Brown gets to fill, only they aren't really his style.

The lean freshman isn't concerning himself with anything other than how he performs on the mat.

“I don't think there is really any pressure on me this year on the team,” Brown said.

“My brother took a while to get the success that he had last year, and my goal shouldn't be that high so soon. I'm not going to achieve that level of success that quickly.”

The facial features and the desire to constantly improve are only a couple of characteristics that the brothers share.

Even though Ben casts a much smaller shadow wrestling in the 125-pound weight class, his determination on the mat also resembles that of his older brother's, who now wrestles for the University at Buffalo.

“Ben is a hard worker and a strong kid; he's got lanky strength,” Cato-Meridian Dan Butler said.

“He's always trying to learn and does all the right things as far as being very coachable. In that way, he is just like Jason when he first started - very willing to keep trying and keep learning in practice every day. Jason was the same way; it took him the same learning curve and he ended up where he got to be.”

This season, Brown is just one of several young and inexperienced members of the Blue Devils.

No one expects Ben to be Jason or even achieve his level of success, especially not this soon in his career.

The third of four Brown brothers, Ben is just the second to get into wrestling.

His love of the sport began six years ago because of his dad, Cliff, who started the Cato-Meridian wrestling club.

He was on the modified squad last year and said his brother's title win last season has aided his improvement.

“He's helped me out a lot and been a big support,” Brown said. “Having him be a real success has helped me out.”

Brown has gotten off to a good start this season, with a 2-1 record so far. His only loss came against North Rose Wolcott during the opening meet. His best match came against LaFayette's Dan Molton on Dec. 14.

After nearly securing a pin on Molton in the first two minutes, Brown eventually took the match by a 13-3 decision.

He looks forward most to wrestling league rival Hannibal later this season, but said he has a lot of work to do before then.

“I'm good when I'm on top, but I really need to work more on my offensive shots,” Brown said.

Butler said that if Brown participates more in offseason wrestling, he'll get better in time just like his brother did.

Aside from that, the only athlete that Brown needs to compete with is himself.

“Ben is an individual and his wrestling style is totally different because of his physicality,” Butler said. “The only pressure he should feel is to keep doing what we do in practice and keep at it. So far, he is.”