“There’s obviously some rivalries, pretty much anything we do that’s the same it’s a rivalry,” said Matthew Consorte, reflecting on his relationship with his identical twin brother Michael.
From sports to cards to video games, the two are each other’s best rival.
“We want to be better than the other person,” added Matthew.
The twins carried the same fighting spirit to the top of the class at Notre Dame High School in West Haven. The pair found out Tuesday they are number one and two in the school’s class of 2020.
“So I got a text from my mom and she told me I was valedictorian and Matt was salutatorian, so I was really happy,” said Michael.
Their mother Carla said the competition heated up at the end of junior year when they found out their GPAs were close, with Michael in the lead. Matthew put on the pressure for the first half of senior year when the final numbers are calculated.
The final score: Michael 4.426, Matthew 4.401
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“I actually almost caught up to him but he still edged me out,” said Matthew.
The two have also been each other’s greatest supporters. From freshman year they learned how to balance sports, jobs and studying, even working in the middle of the night.
“I get up in the middle of the night...and they’re at the kitchen table doing school work. So there’s a lot of sacrifice and hard work,” said dad Mark Consorte.
Their parents say the boys always liked school and the parents never had to push them. The drive seems to come from each other.
While the two have always been close, they like some space. Michael says they’re not the kind of twins that are joined at the hip. After playing a lot of sports together, they chose their own path at Notre Dame. Matthew was a captain for both basketball and soccer, and Michael chose football.
That’s where they share their favorite sports memory: the senior night game against rival West Haven High where dad Mark is a teacher.
“I really wanted to beat him that night,” said Michael. “It was a really good game, really back and forth. We came out on top and the seniors were just so excited.”
“He’s being humble,” Matthew adds. “He caught an interception to close out the game. Me and my friends were watching and we just lost our minds.”
As a teacher at West Haven High, Mark was in charge of moving the chains that night and had a front row view of the win. It put him between his current school and his alma mater, where his son helped Notre Dame beat West Haven for the first time in three years.
“I couldn’t lose that night,” said Mark with a smile.
That was a highlight for the family in a year that didn’t end the way they would have liked.
“It’s just not the same as it would have been with the honors convocation ceremony and graduation,” said Matthew.
“Having that closure is a bummer but hopefully we can throw something together and they can have their graduation,” said mom Carla Consorte.
They say they’re just happy to celebrate together. And they’re also excited for their next adventure.
“When I stepped on University of Notre Dame’s campus I just had a huge smile on my face,” said Michael.
They didn’t plan on going to college together, each set out on their own search. Michael had a few colleges to choose from while Matthew made his decision early.
“It just felt a lot like our high school experience and the values that we liked at our high school were also shared with the university,” said Matthew. “So for me it was my first choice no matter what, and when I got in in December I didn’t apply anywhere else because I knew that I was going there. But he had some more decisions.”
So, from one Notre Dame to another, the rivalry and support continues.
“We’re just going to be taking it one step at a time like we’ve always been and see how well we do in college,” said Matthew, as the two headed off for a friendly game of one-on-one.
